A Phil Hall Op-Ed: Last Friday evening, the White House quietly released a news statement that President Trump signed an Executive Order that identified seven federal agencies and declared their “non-statutory components and functions … shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law, and such entities shall reduce the performance of their statutory functions and associated personnel to the minimum presence and function required by law.”
In plain English, that means the agencies are being readied for the chopping block. There is some logic to why some of these agencies are being targeted.
An argument can be made that the United States Agency for Global Media, the parent entity for Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, is operating services that outlived their usefulness and relevance decades ago. The US Interagency Council on Homelessness has utterly failed to address its core mission – homelessness levels reached new record highs during the Biden administration, and a different approach to the subject is sorely needed. And the Minority Business Development Agency is a Nixon-era entity that was necessary back in the day but is less needed in the current business world.
But there is one agency that doesn’t belong on the Trump chopping block: the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, better known as the CDFI Fund. Unlike the previously mentioned agencies, the CDFI Fund is not a relic from previous political generations. It has not failed in its mission, nor does it carry a record of fraud and waste. In fact, it is one of the most respected and efficient federal agencies, with a track record of creating positive results.
This federal entity is responsible for the Capital Magnet Fund, which awards grants to CDFIs and nonprofits to fund the creation of affordable housing. According to the news site Affordable Housing Finance, the Capital Magnet Fund is credited with helping to create more than 63,000 affordable homes. The CDFI Fund also oversees the New Markets Tax Credit, which has helped construct or rebuild more than 268.2 million square feet of commercial real estate over the last quarter-century.
CDFIs exist to serve markets that most financial institutions have bypassed. Robin Hughes, president and CEO of Housing Partnership Network, issued a statement observing how the CDFI Fund “supports community banks and other lending institutions to provide loans and other resources to homebuyers, small businesses, and housing developers that cannot access capital in the traditional financial markets. CDFIs efficiently invest billions of dollars in the production of housing that is affordable. If implemented, this action will devastate the affordable housing sector at a time when the nation is faced with a housing cost crisis.”
Hughes also observed Trump’s targeting of the CDFI Fund was a peculiar about-face. “In 2020, President Trump signed into law a $12 billion investment into CDFIs, the largest single investment in CDFIs in history,” she said.
The CDFI is also a truly bipartisan endeavor. Sens. Mike Crapo (R-ID) and Mark Warner (D-VA), the co-chairs of the Senate Community Development Finance Caucus, found common ground in defending this agency.
“When the CDFI Fund was developed 30 years ago, it was created in the form of a private-public partnership to promote access to capital in our most underserved urban and rural communities,” the senators said in a statement. “Since 1994, the CDFI sector has grown to over 1400 institutions, located in every state and territory in the nation – and leverages at least $8 in private sector investment for every $1 in public funding received. As co-chairs of the Community Development Finance Caucus, a group which has grown to 28 members, 14 Democrats and 14 Republicans, we are proud to reaffirm our bipartisan commitment to support the CDFI Fund’s mission.”
The president’s Executive Order gives the CDFI Fund’s leadership until this Friday to explain “which components or functions of the governmental entity, if any, are statutorily required and to what extent.” The president also gave his Office of Management and Budget the ability to “effectuate an expected termination, reject funding requests for such governmental entities to the extent they are inconsistent with this order.”
Let’s hope the rush to reduce the federal budget doesn’t result in the misguided end of the CDFI Fund. There is no shortage of government programs that are wasteful, mismanaged, and anachronistic – this is not one of them.
Phil Hall is editor of WRE News. He can be reached at phil@wrenews.com.
Photo courtesy of Dark Knight Armoury
Let’s NOT cut or eliminate the vital CDFI Fund!
Never heard of the CDFI before today. In itself, that doesn’t mean much. However, if this program is such a wonderful thing, why is it on DOGE’s hit list? Whether a chainsaw or a scalpel, it is possible some good things may get cut, but I would have prefered if this defense of the CDFI included the reasons behind why it is being cut. Could it be as simple as where in the Constitution the federal government gets the authority to do this for good or ill? Are, as we are finding out, some of the nonprofits it supports less than above board? Are it’s accomplishments exaggerated? I don’t know, and I’ll bet most of you don’t know either. Many things look good on the surface, but as it often is, the devil is in the details. Our government is a bloated and grotesque mess, and my default position is to shut it down unless good (and Constitutional) reasons for it’s existance can be enumerated. If it turns out to be a mistake to cut this program, it can just as easily (almost) be reinstated or even improved.
It’s being called to be cut because there is no research into anything. They are looking at the allocated dollars. If the dollars will help add up to the trillions slated to be cut, it’s gone. There is no consideration as to the effectiveness or whether it is an essential service. If the money can be added to Elon’s desired funding for his personal goals, it’s gone. Did they look at all at the trillions tRump added during t-1? Maybe some of those initiatives can be edited or cut??
Prove that the money DOGE finds is abuse, waste and fraud is being used for Elon’s personal goals???
How is he using it???
Our government is supposed to help the American People.
Not just a few select Americans, but all Americans.
The taxpayers voted for this change, let’s respect their votes.
Eliminate it. Any good that it does is outweighed by the waste and fraud. Every government agency should expire every 5 years and have to pass an audit to be reinstated. America voted to get rid of the bureaucracy.
“This federal entity is responsible for the Capital Magnet Fund, which awards grants to CDFIs and nonprofits to fund the creation of affordable housing. According to the news site Affordable Housing Finance, the Capital Magnet Fund is credited with helping to create more than 63,000 affordable homes. The CDFI Fund also oversees the New Markets Tax Credit, which has helped construct or rebuild more than 268.2 million square feet of commercial real estate over the last quarter-century.” Phil, you couldn’t make a better case for eliminating this agency. NO MORE WELFARE handed out by corrupt politicians who create problems so they can handle trillions of dollars to “fix” them!
Hit the nail on the head We The People!!
Phil’s explanation and historical perspective makes a nonbeliever a believer! While I’m for dramatic cut backs due to the over reach of the federal government into our lives I better understand the CDFI mission and its results in the housing industry. So I join the bandwagon and say…Lets keep the CFDI operational and funded!