Government Contracts Intelligence Briefing

Since established by Congress in 1978, the Department of Energy has had a program for loans to minority business enterprises. As stated in the regulations implementing the Department of Energy Implementing Act (the “Act”), the purpose of the loans are to “assist such enterprises in participating fully in research, development, demonstration and contract activities of the Department of Energy.” See 10 CFR 800.001. Loan applications are lengthy and must be reviewed by an Application Evaluation Panel and approved by an Application Approving Official. Under the regulations, loans are limited to $50,000 per loan and $100,000 in the aggregate to the same business.

In a Federal Register posting on May 16, 2025, the Trump administration announced its intent to rescind the regulations on July 15, 2025 unless it received “significant adverse comments.” Primarily, the administration justified the recission citing that the administration would not be utilizing the loan program. The document also questioned the legality of the program based on the Supreme Court’s decisions regarding the use of race in college admissions. Further, the Trump administration released executive orders in 2025 that were incongruent with the goals of the loan program.

On July 14, 2025, the administration announced a delay of the rescission and announced further delays to the removal of the regulations and elimination of the program throughout 2025 and 2026. Now, the administration has once again announced a delay rescinding the regulations for an additional 90 days. It is unknown whether this delay represents a change of priorities for the administration or a legal issue. 

Companies involved in this loan program should reach out to their government counterpart to understand the ramifications of the recission and its delay.