Letter to House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government

The following is a letter CU Strategic Planning provided ahead of the US Office of Management and Budget's June 30 Oversight Hearing with OMB Director Russell Vought

June 29, 2026

Rep. Dave Joyce, Chairman House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government         

Rep. Steny Hoyer, Ranking Member House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government

Re: June 30, 2026 Oversight Hearing – Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

Dear Chairman Joyce and Ranking Member Hoyer:

CU Strategic Planning is the small business partner that CDFI credit unions rely on to help them do the most powerful lending to low to moderate income consumers. We work with over 200 credit union CDFIs that use the efficient program to expand their capacity to affordably lend to families of modest means for cars, homes, small businesses and for small loans under $500 for life’s emergencies.

We appreciate the subcommittee’s work and the opportunity to get clarifying answers from OMB’s Russell Vought regarding funds Congress appropriated in the normal process of funding the CDFI Fund programs based in law as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury in March of 2025. The CDFI Fund continues to be “fully funded, yet not fully functional” and our main concerns for the committee for Director Vought are:

• How is OMB working to make the funding process more effective and meeting expected timelines for CDFI credit unions seeking properly appropriated (Financial Assistance, Technical Assistance, Small Dollar Lending) grant funding?

  • 37 of our CDFI credit unions were moved to Stage 4 for awards on September 30, 2025, in the 2025 Financial Assistance program and are still waiting for action on their applications 9 months later. The Small Dollar Loan program just opened for applications on June 29, 2026, after a delay of almost 2 years.
    

• Will OMB release the congressionally appropriated FY 2026 monies for the FA/TA/SDL programs in the most expedient manner, and without red tape issues of the federal government so that the CDFI Fund can “catch up” as Congress is currently working on full funding for the CDFI Fund for FY 2027?
  

• Recognizing that Congress has passed full budgets on the CDFI Fund operating budget (approximately $45 million annually) can we better understand whether the OMB is holding the CDFI Fund back from returning to fully staffed in order to meet the backlog of work regarding recertification plus the delayed opening of CDFI grant programs and awarding of funds intended to help CDFIs in communities across the country?

We continue to seek the following from House and Senate appropriators:

1. Full funding for the CDFI Fund in FY 2027 of $330 million. The CDFI Fund is an important tool for the U.S Treasury to build economic success in every state.

2. Fully fund each CDFI Program. Following the Treasury Secretary’s assessment that all are grounded in law as required by the President’s Executive Order that call for that review, CDFI credit unions look forward to working with Treasury on core programs such as the Financial Assistance, Technical Assistance, and Small Dollar Loan programs with full funding in FY 2027. These programs return as investments in all states in rural, suburban and urban areas.

CU Strategic Planning has written more than $1 billion dollars in winning grants for CDFI credit unions to implement all over the nation and has the ability to help CDFI credit unions get immediate help for low to moderate working families in the form of small consumer loans, auto loans, home mortgages and micro and small business loans. I encourage you to contact me directly if you have any questions or suggestions. 

Respectfully,

Michael V. Beall, Esq.

Chief Experience Officer

CU Strategic Planning

Cc: Senators Mike Crapo and Mark Warner