Rep. Roger Williams defends Republican response to shutdown, says small businesses will benefit from recent tax and lending changes

Congressman Roger Williams, chairman of the House Small Business Committee, told an interview host that the recent government shutdown has hurt Americans and that Republicans expect to end it "tonight," saying the move will help "get America back to work again." "The fact of the matter is Americans have been hurting because of the... Schumer shutdown," Williams said, adding: "We're finally gonna get it over with, I think, tonight, get America, back to work again."

Williams framed the economic recovery for small businesses around provisions he said were included in a recently passed package he called the "big beautiful bill." He said the package includes tax and regulatory changes, regulatory relief for community banks, and allowances intended to improve access to capital for small firms. "Allow for a 100% expensing on equipment purchases," he said, and noted changes to manufacturing loan limits: "We've taken manufacturing loans from the ability from a cap of 5,000,000 to 10,000,000 so people can expand their businesses." He also cited an inheritance threshold of "$30,000,000 per couple."

Williams praised Small Business Administration leadership and said the combination of policy changes and stronger lending capacity would let "Main Street" hire more people and expand. He described himself as a longtime small business owner, saying, "I've been in business 57 years," and used that experience to forecast stronger hiring and growth once the shutdown ends.

The interview was a policy-focused defense of Republican priorities for small-business recovery; Williams emphasized tax and lending provisions and regulatory relief as the main levers. He did not offer legislative text or bill numbers during the segment, and the host did not identify any counter-evidence or alternative legislative proposals during the interview. The segment ended with a brief exchange about a political opponent.