Trump Admin Vows to Keep GAO in Dark on $500B in Paycheck Protection Spending

Administration Says it Won’t Disclose Loan Level Data to Government Accountability Office or Public

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In response to reports that the Trump administration is withholding information on the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program from the independent, nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO), Accountable.US released the following statement:

“This program has been mismanaged from day one and is ripe for fraud and abuse. The public has a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent, full stop,” said Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US. “After spending $500 billion dollars of taxpayer money, we’re now told to accept the administration’s word that it was spent wisely, even when evidence to the contrary grows by the day. President Ronald Reagan once said ‘trust, but verify’ — now the Trump administration is trying to make it impossible to do either. If the administration won’t provide this information, Congress should use its power to obtain it and release it to the public.”

BACKGROUND: Today, the Government Accountability Office revealed that the Trump Administration is “withholding PPP loan data the agency requested as part of its oversight efforts.” Just yesterday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the administration also wouldn’t make the data available to the general public based on vague concerns about privacy. Previously, Senator Marco Rubio said SBA and Treasury would be required to release loan-level data on the PPP program, and SBA’s own website claims they will soon turn to “efforts to providing loan-specific data to the public.”

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