House Small Business chair proposes whistleblower commission payments to recover pandemic loan fraud
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Summary
Rep. Roger Williams introduced the Put America on Commission Act of 2026, proposing paid commissions to whistleblowers who identify suspected COVID-19 loan fraud; he cited large suspected shortfalls in PPP and urged recovering taxpayer funds rather than writing them off.
Rep. Roger Williams, chair of the House Small Business Committee, said he introduced the Put America on Commission Act of 2026 to pay commissions to whistleblowers who can identify pandemic-era loan fraud and help recover taxpayer funds. “When I became chairman of the committee, I said, we're not gonna write it off. That's the people's money,” Williams said.
The proposal would offer financial incentives to private individuals who produce verifiable information showing where pandemic relief money was misused, Williams said. He and the host cited several figures to underline the bill’s intent: the host referenced a post saying $400,000,000 in suspected fraudulent pandemic-loan activity in Minnesota; Williams described larger shortfalls tied to Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, saying “we had $220,000,000,000 missing” and that about $78,000,000,000 was unaccounted for in certain SBA-managed funds.
The host also cited a recent enforcement action involving what she described as nearly 120,000 California borrowers suspended in an action by Small Business Administration leadership that allegedly involved about $8,600,000,000 in pandemic funds. Williams said he is working closely with Small Business Administrator Kelly Leffler on recovery efforts.
Williams outlined an additional recovery idea: treating government receivables like private-sector receivables and selling them at a discount to recover cash sooner. “Why don't we put it out the private sector, treat it like a business does, and sell the receivables... at a discount?” he asked, proposing the sale of claims as one way to get funds back to taxpayers.
The bill was introduced during the interview; no committee vote or legislative timeline was cited on the program. Williams urged bipartisan support for aggressive fraud recovery while acknowledging opponents could arise.
Next steps: Williams said the measure has been introduced (Put America on Commission Act of 2026) and described outreach to SBA leadership; the transcript records no formal vote or committee action.