WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last Friday, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler issued a bombshell order requiring all contractors within the 8(a) Business Development Program to produce financial records as part of an effort to protect American taxpayers and small businesses from waste, fraud, and abuse under the Biden Administration.
Her findings align with a broader pattern of harm to small businesses. “I never cease to be amazed at how many times the Biden Administration orchestrated unlawful behavior,” said Casey B. Mulligan, Chief Counsel for Advocacy. “When it comes to breaking the laws that protect small businesses from regulatory overreach, they turned it into an art form.”
Agencies are particularly fond of skipping out on necessary analyses for their rules. In true Orwellian fashion, sixty-five percent of the rules that the Biden Administration agencies deemed “significant” were nonetheless said to lack significant effects on small entities or otherwise not require consideration of effects on small entities. This meant that Biden Administration regulators saddled small businesses with regulatory costs of at least $100 billion without even bothering to acknowledge their magnitude. Improper and unlawful certifications are also a pathway to capricious enforcement actions against small entities.
While President Trump’s cabinet investigates waste, fraud, and abuse in the bureaucracy, Chief Counsel Mulligan stands watch to make sure regulators abide by the Regulatory Flexibility Act and other statutes protecting small businesses.
Created by Congress in 1976, the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration is an independent voice for small business within the executive branch. Appointed by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, the Chief Counsel for Advocacy directs the office. The Chief Counsel advances the views, concerns, and interests of small business before Congress, the White House, federal agencies, federal courts, and state policymakers. Economic research, policy analyses, and small business outreach help identify issues of concern. Regional Advocates and an office in Washington, DC, support the Chief Counsel’s efforts. For more information on the Office of Advocacy, visit advocacy.sba.gov or call (202) 205-6533.