The top Republican on the House Committee on Small Business is calling for President Donald Trump’s new Small Business Administration (SBA) chief to do what he says the Biden administration wouldn’t – and provide answers on alleged taxpayer-funded electioneering in swing states and the failure to actively recoup fraudulent or misappropriated COVID relief funds.
Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, chair of the House Committee on Small Business, told Fox News Digital Thursday his committee has sounded the alarm on how the Biden administration ‘moved the [SBA] far away from its intended mission: serving Main Street America.’
Williams recalled how the House Small Business Committee had been ‘stonewalled’ in multiple requests for information on how the SBA was working under a 2021 Biden executive order on ‘promoting access to voting’ when it forged a ‘memorandum of understanding (MOU)’ with Michigan election officials.
In the committee’s letter to SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler being sent later Thursday, the panel will note Trump rescinded the Biden order, but remains ‘deeply troubled by the lack of transparency from the Biden-Harris SBA and looks forward to working with you to determine what impact this may have had on the 2024 election.’
The letter will also alert Loeffler to several Biden-era rule changes they believe present an ‘immediate threat’ to its small-business-lending portfolio.
As for allegations the previous SBA leadership punted on recovering misallocated COVID aid, the letter invokes Trump’s DOGE endeavors and floats a project to investigate fraud and recover the funds, which they characterize as a prime example of how Loeffler can assist that cause.
‘It is estimated that across the SBA’s COVID-19 lending programs, approximately $200 billion went to potentially fraudulent recipients,’ the letter said, while also noting the Biden SBA ‘unilaterally decided’ to suspend delinquent disaster loan and PPP collections for loans under $100,000.
‘The Committee is interested in determining the Biden-Harris SBA’s rationale for this decision and seeks to understand the impact this had on the ability of law enforcement to track and prosecute fraud,’ the committee wrote.
Last year, Williams issued a rare committee subpoena for staff travel calendars and more information from the SBA seeking to discern whether or how taxpayer money was potentially being spent to register voters in heavily Democratic areas in Michigan under the MOU.
Democrats on the panel, however, have long criticized the GOP majority’s machinations:
‘Unfortunately, with [these Michigan/MOU] subpoenas, Republicans have rejected these principles to pursue a partisan inquiry,’ ranking member Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., told Fox News Digital.
While the Biden-era SBA maintained they did nothing wrong, Williams persisted in trying to conduct congressional oversight of the alleged electioneering. Similar could be said for the committee’s efforts to probe the SBA’s position on recouping the problematic COVID aid amounts.
‘The Committee looks forward to working with Administrator Loeffler and the Trump Administration to return credibility and transparency to the SBA,’ Williams said Thursday.
‘Together, we will ensure small businesses have a voice in our government and bring the Golden Age of America to Main Street.’
