Senate Small Business Committee hears testimony from Kelly Loeffler on SBA priorities: audits, disaster loans and fraud control

Senator Joni Ernst, chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, formally opened a Jan. 29 committee hearing to consider President Trump's nominee to be administrator of the Small Business Administration, former U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler. The committee swore in Loeffler and then heard opening statements and questions focused on agency accountability, disaster funding, fraud recovery and recent executive actions affecting diversity and equity programs.

The hearing concentrated on three recurring themes: restoring financial controls and auditability at SBA; ensuring timely disaster relief and better transparency with Congress; and preventing fraud and waste in pandemic-era programs. Chairwoman Joni Ernst said the agency must be “shored up” after what she described as failures in the prior administration and cited the inability of the Government Accountability Office to issue an audit since fiscal 2020. Ranking Member Edward J. Markey stressed the potential harm from abrupt OMB spending orders and the recent firing of an inspector general: “Inspector general Ware has earned…