Rep. Cisneros Calls on SBA Administrator to Answer to Congress
Rep. Cisneros highlighted how Loeffler's actions and politicization of the SBA have hurt small businesses
Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Gilbert R. Cisneros, Jr. (CA-31) used his time during the House Small Business Committee's (HSBC) hearing on the so called "Golden Age" to call out Small Business Administrator (SBA) Kelly Loeffler and the numerous actions she and the Trump Administration have undertaken that directly harm small businesses. That includes an announced 43% cut of the SBA workforce, shifting the Department of Education's $1.7 trillion student loan portfolio to the remaining unequipped SBA workers, and handing over SBA data to Elon Musk's DOGE. Rep. Cisneros called on Loeffler to take accountability and testify to Congress and the HSBC. You can watch his statement here.
A transcript of his remarks are below:
Look, I believe that when done right, deregulation means increased competition that improves quality of goods and services and price decreases. When done right, deregulation can stimulate economic growth, reduce costs, and make businesses more efficient. But today’s hearing is not about deregulation or how we can work across the aisle to actually help businesses, this hearing is an infomercial. As a co-equal branch of government, we should be actively trying to shape how Congress wants support for small businesses to look like, and not just seek to appease the executive by starting the name of our Congressional Hearing with “The Golden Age.” Our committee also has oversight authority, we should be able to hold agencies accountable and their leadership should come to this Committee Room and explain actions or inactions.
I have joined my colleagues in sending letters to the SBA and they go unanswered. We sit through hearings to listen to what agencies, particularly the SBA, are doing and not doing. We ask witnesses questions to gauge the impact of actions by the SBA and the Administration, but we need to bring the Director of the SBA here. So, with my time now, I’m calling on this Committee to bring the Administrator here, to publicly answer our questions. If the Administrator were here, I would want the following questions answered:
What was the extent of DOGE’s access to SBA Headquarters and Systems, and what was done by the SBA to ensure that systems were not abused or accessed by individuals without clearance?
What specific offices or departments within the SBA are affected by the announced 43% reduction of the workforce?
Where is the SBA relocating the 6 regional offices and will any other offices be closed in the future?
How are appropriated funds being used or not used with the SBA undergoing such drastic changes that Congress has not authorized?
What is SBA’s plan to handle $1.7 trillion student loan portfolio with less staff and staff not trained to work with such a complex student loan system?
In announcing the Made in America Manufacturing Initiative you claim you will find $100 billion in cuts to regulations – where are you going to find it and how are you ensuring cuts don’t negatively impact small business owners?
Also in announcing the Made in America Manufacturing Initiative, did the SBA actively mislead Americans by stating that the previous administration “was losing an average of 9,000 manufacturing jobs per month?”
On the last question the SBA ignored the fact that manufacturing jobs rose by 721,000 during the first three years of the Biden Administration. Some was part of the comeback from pandemic-era job losses, but the Biden Administration’s final monthly number was still 12,000 manufacturing jobs higher than the last pre-pandemic month of President Trump’s first term in office. The manufacturing employment gains under President Biden were in fact the strongest in 72 years.
I sincerely hope the Administrator comes before this committee to work with us to help small businesses flourish, because small businesses have fewer options than larger companies to navigate and survive the chaotic actions of the Trump Administration.
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