U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) is leading a call for answers from the Trump administration on decisions to dismantle or cut funding for programs that support small businesses, especially those owned by minorities and women.
Cantwell, joined by 10 Senate colleagues, sent a letter to Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Kelly Loeffler and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick questioning the administration’s actions targeting the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) and other programs that provide essential technical assistance, mentorship, and funding access for small business owners across the country.
“We demand answers from the Administration about how it intends to properly serve small business entrepreneurs from minority and underserved communities and follow Federal laws establishing support for such entrepreneurs,” the senators wrote. “A failure to support small businesses, including minority-owned small businesses, will be a detriment to the entire American economy.”
The MBDA was created in 1969 to help minority business owners succeed by expanding access to capital, contracts, and resources. In 2021, Congress permanently authorized the agency with bipartisan support through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Despite this, President Trump issued an executive order in March directing the MBDA and other agencies to reduce their functions to the minimum legally required. The Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposal seeks to abolish the MBDA entirely.
These actions have already had consequences in Washington state. The MBDA Business Center in Tacoma was recently forced to close after its grant was terminated. Since 2021, the center had helped minority-owned businesses in the region create and retain nearly 1,500 jobs, secure $190.8 million in contracts, and obtain $216.9 million in financing.
Senator Cantwell said eliminating the MBDA undercuts decades of progress in supporting minority business development.
“Undermining and dismantling targeted federal programs that recognize the historic challenges faced by minority business owners will ultimately hurt local communities and weaken the U.S. economy,” the senators wrote in the letter.
The senators criticized the administration for taking steps that undermine federal small business contracting goals, including for Small Disadvantaged Businesses (SDBs), women-owned small businesses, and veteran-owned small businesses. In January 2025, the SBA lowered its goal for federal contracting dollars to SDBs to just 5 percent, down from the Biden administration’s 15 percent target. The letter also raised concerns about reports of staffing cuts
in agency Offices of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBUs), which help small businesses compete for federal contracts.
They argued that these changes not only harm minority-owned firms but also threaten broader economic growth. Minority-owned businesses employ millions of Americans and generate more than $2 trillion in annual revenue.
The senators pointed to reports indicating that since the executive order, nearly all MBDA employees were laid off or reassigned, and termination letters were sent to MBDA grantees and Business Centers. While a Rhode Island federal court issued a preliminary injunction halting implementation of the executive order, uncertainty remains about the agency’s future.
Cantwell has been a consistent defender of the MBDA. She previously demanded compliance with court orders halting its dismantling and called on the Department of Commerce to honor commitments to the agency’s mission. She has also raised concerns about the administration’s proposal to eliminate the SBA’s Women’s Business Centers and SCORE mentorship programs, both of which provide crucial support to entrepreneurs nationwide.
“These programs are not duplicative—they fill long-standing gaps in resources for minority, women, and veteran entrepreneurs who continue to face barriers to capital and opportunity,” Cantwell has said in past statements defending small business development initiatives.
Other senators signing the letter include Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM).
The senators’ letter outlined specific questions for the administration to answer by July 10. They requested details on how the Department of Commerce plans to use congressionally appropriated MBDA funds, explanations for staffing and grant terminations, plans to meet existing SDB contracting goals, and reasons for proposing to eliminate “specialized and duplicative programs” such as Women’s Business Centers, SCORE, the State Trade Expansion Program, Native American outreach programs, technical assistance for the Microloan program, Growth Accelerators, and Regional Innovation Clusters.
They warned that dismantling these programs would limit opportunities for entrepreneurs and undermine the innovation needed to maintain U.S. competitiveness.
In Tacoma, the loss of the MBDA Business Center is expected to have ripple effects. Since 2021, its services helped many local minority-owned businesses weather economic shifts, win public contracts, and expand their workforce. Community economic development advocates say the center played a critical role in building generational wealth in historically underrepresented communities.
The senators concluded their letter with a direct warning: failing to support small businesses, particularly minority-owned enterprises, will weaken the economy and harm efforts to build resilient local communities.
The Trump administration has not yet publicly responded to the letter. SBA and Commerce Department officials are expected to provide written answers to the senators’ inquiries in the coming weeks.
