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The Trump Admin’s Attempt to Clean Up Its PPP PR Mess Is Too Little, Too Late

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Amid a barrage of news from the Trump administration last Friday afternoon, new reports showed that the Small Business Administration (SBA) began sending “’loan necessity’ questionnaires” targeting companies and organizations that received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) assistance of at least $2 million — an attempt to further examine loan recipients’ eligibility for the relief dollars in a program marred by widespread abuse, misuse, and fraud. 

 The news comes after months of outcry from the owners of mom-and-pop businesses asking for greater clarity about exactly how the SBA would forgive loans.  

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Without proper transparency and oversight measures, the Paycheck Protection Program was rife with fraud and abuse after the Trump administration failed to vet applicants properly. Now Trump’s SBA is attempting to clean up its PR mess after millions of dollars in fraud have been uncovered with more investigations still underway. The Trump administration failed to put up safeguards on the front end of this program to ensure that aid dollars reached those who needed them most, and after more than 400,000 small businesses have closed, it's now passing that burden onto mom-and-pop shops already struggling to stay afloat in the ongoing Trump recession." 

Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US

Last month, following news that the SBA started forgiving PPP loans, Accountable.US sent a letter to SBA Administrator Carranza demanding that more information about the loan forgiveness process be made public in order to ensure that funds are distributed equitably, including:  

  • How the agency is deciding loan forgiveness;  
  • Which loans the agency has forgiven already;  
  • How much of each loan has been forgiven; and 
  • How long, on average, businesses should expect to wait to learn whether their loan is eligible for forgiveness.

Read the group’s full letter here.

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