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- By Neely Bardwell
Today, the White House announced President Trump’s fiscal year 2026 discretionary budget request, proposing major shifts in federal spending priorities—including provisions that could significantly impact Indian Country.
In Trump’s proposed budget, several reductions would directly affect Indian Country. One such proposal is a $617 million cut to Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) programs, including the Indian Guaranteed Loan Program and the Indian Land Consolidation Program.
Another proposal includes a $107 million reduction to the BIA’s Public Safety and Justice programs, claiming it would “streamline” operations and reduce redundancies. In reality, this would endanger Native communities already struggling to staff their public safety and justice departments.
The proposal also includes a $187 million cut to construction programs for Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) facilities, citing "poor program management, cost overruns, and delays." Additionally, it slashes $2.5 billion from the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) programs.
Most concerning to the economic development sectors of tribal nations is the proposed elimination of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund awards. The administration claims the program has been “abused to advance a partisan agenda,” and also proposes cutting $770 million in Community Services Block Grants. If enacted, the CDFI Fund would see a 90% reduction in funding—from its FY 2025 level of $324 million to just $33 million.
“Consistent with the President’s goal of reducing the federal bureaucracy, the Budget recommends eliminating CDFI Fund discretionary awards. Past awards may have made race a determinant of access to loan programs to ‘advance racial equity,’ funded products and services that built so-called ‘climate resiliency,’ and framed American society as inherently oppressive rather than fostering unity,” the proposal states. “The CDFI industry has matured beyond the need for ‘seed’ money and should at this point be financially self-sustaining. Remaining funding supports oversight and closeout of prior awards, maintaining CDFI certification, and support for New Markets Tax Credit administration and the zero-cost Bond Guarantee Program.”
The Native CDFI Network strongly disagrees with the administration’s characterization that the CDFI industry has “matured beyond the need for ‘seed’ money.” They note that the vast majority of Native CDFIs have total assets under $15 million and rely heavily on Native American CDFI Assistance (NACA) awards to continue growing and serving their communities.
In response, the Native CDFI Network is convening a strategy meeting early next week with all Native CDFI leaders and partners to develop a coordinated response to the FY 2026 budget proposal.
U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released a statement condemning this budget proposal saying it would set the country back “decades”.
“He’s proposing to divest from America’s small businesses, axe funding for families to afford their energy bills, and rip resources away from students and teachers. Trump wants to rip away funding to safeguard Americans’ health, protect our environment, and to help rural communities and our farmers thrive,” said Murray. “This president wants to turn our country’s back on Tribes—and let trash pile up at our national parks. Trump is even proposing to cut investments to prevent violent crime, go after drug traffickers, and tackle the opioids and mental health crises.”
The proposal also wants to eliminate the Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Justice Program and the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant program, suggesting it should be funded by the State of Hawaii instead.
Even with the proposed deep cuts to Indian Country spending, there were some programs Trump deemed eligible to receive an increase in funding including the Indian Reservation Drinking Water Program, increasing funding by $27 million (to $31 million total) for Tribes to maintain access to drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.
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