EconDefense
Actor · public profile

Office of Strategic Capital

Use the §149 credit/capital-assistance architecture and partner with appropriate industrial and private-finance actors.

OSC uses credit and partnerships with private investors to expand investment in national-security technologies and supply chains. Its direct lending, loan guarantees and fund-financing programs have distinct eligibility and application routes.

Budget & program scale

Public funding documented

2025 reconciliation: up to $200 billion in loan and loan-guarantee principal ceilings

  • Enacted credit ceilingEnacted July 4, 2025; supporting appropriations available through September 30, 2029

    Public Law 119-21 provides two separate $100 billion ceilings on gross direct-loan obligations and guaranteed principal: one under §20004(d) for critical minerals and related industries/projects, and one under §20005(b) for capital assistance under 10 U.S.C. §149(e). Together they provide up to $200 billion in principal capacity.

    Source: Public Law 119-21, §§20004(d) and 20005(b) — DoD Credit Program Account

  • Credit subsidy appropriationFY2025 appropriation; available through September 30, 2029

    The two provisions appropriate $500 million and $1 billion, respectively, to support credit costs. The combined $1.5 billion appropriation is not the same thing as the $200 billion loan/guarantee principal ceiling.

    Source: Public Law 119-21, §§20004(d) and 20005(b) — DoD Credit Program Account

  • Program projectionPublished program figures reviewed October 4, 2026

    OSC reports 19 SBICCT approved funds projected to deploy more than $4 billion across over 1,700 companies. That is a program projection involving investment funds and private capital, not another OSC appropriation to add to the credit ceiling.

    Source: OSC — Investment Fund Financing: NSFF and SBICCT

How to engage

Mission & responsibilities

Authority & organization

Sources reviewed

Source notes
  • The $200 billion figure is authorized principal capacity supported by enacted appropriations, not cash on hand, a remaining fiscal-year balance, or a commitment to lend to a particular applicant.
  • The two statutory ceilings have different scopes; the critical-minerals tranche is not universally available for every technology proposal.
  • Deadlines and program status are dated to the review; consult the official notice for amendments.
Institutional limits

Capital-assistance language must be read with eligible-investment, credit, fee, subsidy, borrower and national-security conditions; not synonymous with unrestricted equity investing.

Institutional sources