The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, or DFC, has been stuck in limbo, operating under a temporary extension as it has waited for lawmakers to approve a long-term reauthorization. That effort has now gathered momentum as lawmakers attached the DFC Modernization and Reauthorization Act of 2025 to the National Defense Authorization Act, which will be voted on this week and is typically considered a must-pass bill.
This comes after weeks of meetings and at-times tense negotiations, where DFC’s reauthorization was uncertain, sources told Devex. As recently as last week, it was unclear if a compromise could be reached, sources said. Some of the key issues lawmakers grappled with include expanding the agency’s work to high-income countries, the agency’s mandate — and how much it should focus on development as its core mission versus strategic self-interests — and how much oversight lawmakers would have.
“Broadly it’s a good thing that it’s getting done. It’s a bad place for DFC to be in a temporary state of authorization,” Erin Collinson, the director of policy outreach at the Center for Global Development, told Devex. “It’s important they were able to pull together some bipartisan political will to move ahead.”
About the author
Adva Saldinger@AdvaSal
Adva Saldinger is a Senior Reporter at Devex where she covers development finance, as well as U.S. foreign aid policy. Adva explores the role the private sector and private capital play in development and authors the weekly Devex Invested newsletter bringing the latest news on the role of business and finance in addressing global challenges. A journalist with more than 10 years of experience, she has worked at several newspapers in the U.S. and lived in both Ghana and South Africa.
