A final version of the long-awaited defense bill that lawmakers released this weekend would revive and expand the financial muscle of a small federal agency at the center of President Donald Trump’s strategy of countering China’s control of critical minerals and rare earth elements.
The fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act lays out a path for reauthorizing the U.S. International Development Finance Corp., an agency created in 2019 during Trump’s first stint in office to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a trillion-dollar effort aimed at extending the country’s power through strategic investments, including those in minerals.
The House is expected to pass the compromise legislation as soon as this week and then send it over to the Senate. The upper chamber will then try to pass the bill before the end of the month.
Trump has already been busy tapping the DFC’s power to bolster mineral projects abroad, including in areas where China has longstanding investments.
