Senators Urge Trump To Restore Minority Business Development Agency

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), joined by five Democratic Senate colleagues, is calling on the Trump Administration to explain how it is complying with a federal court order to stop dismantling the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) and restore its staffing and grantmaking operations.

The senators’ demand, detailed in a June 2 letter to Acting Under Secretary for the MBDA Keith Sonderling, follows a May 13 preliminary injunction issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island. The court order halted the Administration’s efforts to eliminate the MBDA under President Trump’s March 14 Executive Order 14238, titled “Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy.”

According to the court, the Executive Order violated constitutional principles by disregarding congressional authority. Specifically, the court found that the administration usurped Congress’s “power of the purse” and its legislative authority to create and abolish federal agencies. The ruling mandates that the MBDA’s full operations and personnel be reinstated.

“The Court’s order detailing how the Trump Administration must comply with the injunction makes it clear that the MBDA’s personnel and grantmaking capabilities must be restored,” the senators wrote. They requested a full accounting of all actions taken to comply with the injunction and reverse implementation of the Executive Order.

Sen. Cantwell, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, was joined by Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Edward Markey (D-MA), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM).

The letter is the senators’ latest effort to defend the MBDA, following inquiries to Sonderling on May 1 and earlier correspondence in March and April addressed to Commerce Secretary Lutnick, who had pledged to protect the agency during congressional testimony.

Established in 1969, the MBDA is the only federal agency solely dedicated to promoting the growth and global competitiveness of minority-owned businesses. In 2021, Congress permanently authorized the MBDA through bipartisan legislation—the Minority Business Development Act of 2021—which was included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The agency received $68.25 million for Fiscal Year 2024 under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, with that funding level extended through 2025.

Despite this clear congressional mandate, the Trump Administration began dismantling the MBDA shortly after the March Executive Order. Nearly all agency staff were fired, grant programs were canceled, and agency signage was removed from Department of Commerce buildings.

The senators’ letter outlines six specific reporting requests for the Department of Commerce and the MBDA. These include documentation of all actions taken to reverse Executive Order policies, reinstate terminated employees and contractors, and resume paused or canceled grant funding. The senators also requested confirmation that no additional steps are being taken to eliminate the agency and asked for an account of any staffing shortfalls due to terminations.

“The states argued that implementation of the Executive Order violates the Administrative Procedure Act, the Constitution’s Take Care Clause, and separation of powers principles under the Constitution,” the letter stated. The court sided with the states, ruling they are likely to prevail on all counts.

The court’s decision was a victory for states and stakeholders who rely on the MBDA’s services. In Fiscal Year 2024 alone, the agency helped over 12 million minority-owned businesses access more than $1.5 billion in capital and create or retain an estimated 23,000 jobs.

The Washington MBDA Business Center in Tacoma, which received a $2 million federal grant in July 2021, has played a key role in supporting local businesses. Since then, it has helped minority-owned firms in the state create and retain 1,495 jobs, secure $190.8 million in contracts, and obtain $216.9 million in financing.

“Twenty-one states sued the Administration, seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent the Administration from carrying out the Executive Order,” the senators wrote. “The Court said the Executive Order usurped Congress’s appropriations and its authority to create and abolish agencies.”

As of now, law requires the MBDA to resume full operations. The senators have asked for a detailed report from the Department of Commerce by June 9, outlining all corrective actions taken.