By Samantha Handler
July 10, 2025
Exclusive: Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) are urging the Trump administration not to close the Economic Development Administration, a crucial agency for spurring growth in underserved and rural areas.
The Trump administration floated eliminating the agency in the president’s draft budget proposal earlier this year. The senators warned that shutting down the EDA would hurt investments and job creation across the country, as well as disaster recovery efforts, according to a letter sent to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
The letter also says that in 2024, the EDA invested more than $1 billion in around 583 projects around the country. The agency also provides funding for businesses impacted by natural disasters.
“Eliminating it would severely hamper locally driven economic development activities nationwide,” Alsobrooks and Cramer wrote.