Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee and Congressman Bill Foster (D-IL), the Ranking Member of the Financial Institutions Subcommittee, led 88 House Democrats in a letter to U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, following an Executive Order issued by President Donald Trump last month, aimed at slashing key federal agencies — including the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund.

In the letter, the lawmakers express deep concern over Trump’s Executive Order seeking to eliminate a number of agencies, including the CDFI Fund, which the order inaccurately labels as “unnecessary.” The lawmakers slam this mischaracterization and highlight the strong bipartisan success the CDFI Fund has had for more than 30 years in providing access to capital and other essential resources to underserved and underrepresented communities historically overlooked by traditional financial institutions.

“We write to express our strong concerns with a recent Executive Order issued by President Trump to reduce ‘elements of the Federal bureaucracy that the President has determined are unnecessary,’ requiring that the ‘non-statutory components and functions of the following governmental entities shall be eliminated to the maximum extent.’ One of the governmental entities listed is the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, which is fully authorized and appropriated by Congress and administered by your Department,” said the lawmakers. “...For more than 30 years, across Republican and Democratic Administrations, the CDFI Fund has been a bipartisan success, providing grants, technical assistance, and other support to community banks, credit unions, and loan funds across the country that are certified as CDFIs. These CDFIs leverage a relatively small amount of Federal funds to provide financial access to underserved communities that traditional financial institutions ignore.”

The lawmakers highlight the harmful consequences of these cuts, including plans to reduce or eliminate the workforcein and raise alarm that some CDFI staff have been left in the dark on their employment status. Moreover, they also call out the conflicting messages coming from the Trump Administration — noting that while Secretary Bessent has recently attempted to downplay the dangerous nature of the Executive Order by praising the impact and importance of CDFI programs, the President is contradicting these sentiments by simultaneously taking steps to dismantle them.

“Your words, however, are in direct conflict with the plain language of the President’s Executive Order characterizing the CDFI Fund as ‘unnecessary,’... We ask that you immediately clear up this confusion. To the extent the President agrees with your recent statement and wants to support CDFIs, the appropriate thing to do would be to promptly update the Executive Order to exempt the CDFI Fund from its application, ensure that the staff has access to the internet to do their jobs, and work with Congress to strengthen and expand the work of the CDFI Fund. It would be a shame if this becomes the first Administration to forsake the long bipartisan tradition of collaborating with Congress to support our CDFIs and the communities they serve,” wrote the lawmakers.

The lawmakers conclude the letter by calling on Secretary Bessent to provide answers clarifying the Trump administration’s position and to revise the Executive Order to ensure the CDFI Fund is explicitly exempt from any reductions or elimination. They also call on Secretary Bessent to work with Congress to strengthen and expand the work of the CDFI Fund.

See the letter HERE.

Full list of signers: Representatives Maxine Waters, Alma Adams, Becca Balint, Nanette, Barragán, Joyce Beatty, Sandford Bishop, Shontel Brown, Janelle Bynum, Troy Carter, Ed Case, Sean Casten, Joaquin Castro, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Judy Chu, Emanuel Cleaver, Herbert Conaway, Jim Costa, Danny Davis, Madeleine Dean, Diana DeGette, Sarah Elfreth, Veronica Escobar, Adriano Espaillat, Dwight Evans, Cleo Fields, Bill Foster, Valerie Foushee, John Garamendi, Jesús García, Sylvia Garcia, Daniel Goldman, Jimmy Gomez, Maggie Goodlander, Josh Gottheimer, Al Green, Chrissy Houlahan, Steny Hoyer, Val Hoyle, Glenn Ivey, Jonathan Jackson, Pramila Jayapal, Henry Johnson, Robin Kelly, Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Greg Landsman, Summer Lee, Teresa Leger Fernandez, Sarah McBride, Jennifer McClellan, Betty McCollum, Kristen McDonald Rivet, Morgan McGarvey, LaMonica McIver, Gregory Meeks, Robert Menendez, Dave Min, Gwen Moore, Seth Moulton, Kevin Mullin, Jerrold Nadler, Eleanor Norton, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Brittany Pettersen, Chellie Pingree, Ayanna Pressley, Mike Quigley, Delia Ramirez, Andrea Salinas, Linda Sanchez, Mary Gay Scanlon, Janice Schakowsky, Robert Scott, Terri Sewell, Brad Sherman, Lateefah Simon, Adam Smith, Haley Stevens, Marilyn Strickland, Bennie Thompson, Rashida Tlaib, Paul Tonko, Norma Torres, Lori Trahan, Derek Tran, Juan Vargas, Nydia Velázquez, Nikema Williams, Frederica Wilson.

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