Republican Texas Rep. Roger Williams sent a subpoena Wednesday to the Small Business Administration (SBA) demanding documents related to the agency’s decision to end active collection efforts for two government programs.
The House Committee on Small Business has been investigating the decisions on how to handle the portfolio of debt they took on between the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), valued at $100,000 or less, for 14 months.
The Daily Caller first obtained a copy of the subpoena and the letter Williams, who chairs the committee, sent to the SBA. The letter also mentions their decision to not sell all or part of the COVID EIDL portfolio.
The SBA has “slow-rolled” or refused to provide the committee with the documents they have asked for and have now been sent the subpoena, Williams states in the letter. The committee originally asked the SBA to provide them with the requested information in March of 2023.
“Rather than comply with the Committee’s attempt to inform itself about the SBA’s decisions regarding the largest lending program in the agency’s history, the SBA has provided the Committee with only minimal information and has ignored numerous requests for information. The SBA’s continual obstruction has hindered the Committee’s ability to quickly consider legislative reforms regarding issues directly related to the investigation,” Williams wrote in the letter.
“The Committee still has not seen the communications surrounding the SBA’s decision to end collections on PPP and COVID EIDLs valued at $100,000 or less that were first requested on March 15, 2023. These communications are critical to assessing how and why this decision was made in the first place, the justification behind the reversal in December 2023, whether the SBA acted in accordance with the Debt Collection Improvement Act, and whether legislative reforms are needed to protect taxpayer dollars in future small business lending programs and loan collection processes. The SBA continues to obstruct these efforts,” he added.
Here Is What The Subpoena Demands:
- All documents and communications between and among SBA staff relating to the April 2022 decision, including but not limited to emails, messages, and calendar invitations.
- All documents and communications between the SBA and the Executive Office of the President, including but not limited to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), relating to the April 2022 decision.
- All documents and communications between the SBA and the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) relating to the April 2022 decision.
- All documents and communications between and among the SBA and the Executive Office of the President, including but not limited to OMB, regarding the decision not to sell all or portions of the COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loans (COVID EIDL) portfolio.
- All documents and communications between and among the SBA and Treasury regarding the decision not to sell all or portions of the COVID EIDL portfolio.
- All documents relating to internal analyses conducted by the SBA on selling the COVID EIDL portfolio, including (a) any documents that support the conclusion that doing so was not in the best interests of the government and (b) the initial and updated analyses referenced in the SBA’s December 22, 2023, correspondence to the Committee on Small Business.
- All documents and communications between and among SBA staff relied upon and/or related to the September 2022 analysis.
- All documents and communications between and among SBA staff relied upon and/or related to the February 23, 2023, memorandum, including all reports relied upon in drafting the memorandum.
- All third-party analyses, including those from subcontractors, conducted for the SBA related to COVID EIDL from January 1, 2021, until present.
- All documents and communications relied upon and/or related to the December 2023 decision, including all reports relied upon in drafting the December 23, 2023, decision.
READ THE LETTER HERE:
(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers
“This issue is very simple: the Small Business Administration should be using every tool available to try to make the taxpayers whole and get the pandemic loans repaid,” Williams told the Caller. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Roger Williams Slams Biden Small Business Administration For Alleged Violation Of Entrepreneur Privacy)
“Instead, the SBA has stonewalled this Committee at every turn when asking for answers about their decision to simply stop performing their duties to collect these loans,” he added. “The American taxpayers deserve answers to why this costly decision was made so we can look at ways to prevent this type of mismanagement in the future. It is unfortunate that the SBA failed to substantially produce responsive documents over the course of this investigation and forced the committee to escalate the issue in the issuance of this subpoena.” (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: ‘Onslaught’: House Committee Leader Prods Biden Admin, Accuses Them Of Impeding Oversight)
The Caller contacted the SBA about the subpoena to which they did not immediately respond.
