On Friday evening, President Trump issued several Executive Orders, including one titled “Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy.” It lists seven government agencies including the CDFI Fund and the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) to be affected.
On first review, the EO calls for:
- Elimination of non-statutory functions – Programs that are not explicitly required by law could be at particular risk
- Reduced funding and operational capacity – The EO mandates agency heads to submit a compliance report to the Director of OMB within 7 days, confirming adherence to the order and identifying any statutory functions that cannot be eliminated.
It’s important to highlight that the CDFI Fund and the MBDA are codified in statute.
The CDFI Fund will continue to exist as it is in statute, however it could look very different moving forward, especially if potential consolidations of agencies happen and impact on programs not in statute such as native CDFI programs are in effect.
We want to emphasize that Congress passed a Continuing Resolution on Friday that funds the government until September 30, 2025 and the CDFI Fund is funded, albeit at the 2024 levels.
In other Friday news, a three-judge panel in the Fourth Circuit reversed the temporary injunction on the DEI Executive Order in the case brought by Democracy Forward and Asian Americans Advancing Justice in Maryland District Court. This allows President Trump to enforce the ban on DEI programs in the federal government and companies with government contracts. The decision, in a lawsuit by the city of Baltimore and three groups, will remain in place pending the outcome of the Trump administration’s appeal, which could take months.