Latest news with #Loeffler
Yahoo
8 hours ago
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EXCLUSIVE: Kelly Loeffler, a Trump cabinet appointee who regularly appears on Newsmax, has quiet financial ties to its parent company
WASHINGTON — Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler has been a fixture on Newsmax since her confirmation in mid-February, when she became President Donald Trump's Small Business Administration administrator in February. But Loeffler and Newsmax weren't telling viewers the whole story about her relationship with the conservative cable TV news network. Loeffler, who served as a U.S. senator from Georgia between 2000 to 2021, owns 136,555 shares worth of stock in the parent company of Newsmax, according to federal financial disclosures reviewed by Fortune. She's one of several top Trump appointees — including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and U.S. Agency for Global Media senior adviser Kari Lake — who Fortune identified as having potential financial conflicts of interest between their personal finances and public service. Loeffler appeared on Newsmax at least five times in a two-month span, between March and May this year—but at no time in these interviews did Newsmax or Loeffler discuss or disclose a matter effectively unknown to the public: Loeffler has a large, personal investment in the network. Loeffler affirmed in an April 1 filing with the Office of Government Ethics that she and her husband owned a 'preferred stock convertible note' in Newsmax, which they exchanged on March 29 for 'restricted class B common stock.' Loeffler did not name her Newsmax investment among planned divestitures as listed in a signed government ethics agreement from January 24. Nor did she divest it, as she did other investments, per a March 24 certificate of divestiture. Since then, she has not disclosed selling off any other personal investments, including her Newsmax stock. Newsmax stock has generally traded between $22 and $26 per share during May, before sliding below $20 throughout June. On March 3, Loeffler appeared on Newsmax's 'Rob Schmitt Tonight' show to trash Biden-era business policies. On March 12, Loeffler told Newsmax's 'America Agenda' show that 'people love seeing 'Made in America' back on all of our critical, essential goods, and I'm just thrilled to continue to push this across the country for President Trump's America First agenda.' On March 25, Loeffler again joined 'Rob Schmitt Tonight' to promote the efforts of the Department of Government Efficiency. 'Thank God for Elon Musk and his DOGE effort. I mean, this is a patriot who is working hard for the American taxpayer,' Loeffler declared on the show. On April 30, Loeffler told Newsmax host Greta Van Susteren there's 'no bigger fan of small business than Donald Trump.' On May 6, Loeffler appeared on Newsmax's 'Carl Higbie Frontline' show to tout the Trump administration's commitment to domestic manufacturing. In a statement to Fortune, Small Business Administration spokesperson Caitlin O'Dea said: 'Administrator Loeffler maintains full compliance with the ethics agreement executed prior to her confirmation and fully complies with every request from the SBA Office of Ethics and the U.S. Office of Government Ethics—who reviewed all of her financial holdings, including Newsmax, prior to finalizing the ethics agreement. She will proudly continue to exercise her First Amendment right as the Cabinet-level voice for America's 34 million small businesses, while upholding all ethics rules and requirements.' Newsmax did not respond to inquiries. The Society of Professional Journalists' Code of Ethics advises news organizations 'avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived' and 'disclose unavoidable conflicts.' 'You have a responsibility to both be ethical and to appear to be ethical,' said Peter Loge, Director of the Project on Ethics in Political Communication at the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. 'Newsmax, Loeffler — they should just disclose it. There should be a note somewhere' during the interviews. As a senator, the Senate Ethics Committee investigated and subsequently cleared Loeffler of wrongdoing after she sold large amounts of stock in 2020 following her attendance at a closed-doors Senate briefing on the then-emerging COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, a Loeffler spokesperson said the then-senator, who would lose election in early 2021, 'did absolutely nothing wrong and has been completely exonerated.' Loeffler is not alone among notable Trump administration officials in maintaining financial investments that could pose conflicts of interest with their official duties, according to a Fortune review of government documents. Secretary Pete Hegseth's wife Jennifer has cut an outsized profile during her husband's turbulent Pentagon tenure—reportedly participating in a high-level government Signal chat, accompanying Hegseth to meetings with senators and directing agency social-media decisions despite holding no official role. But following her husband's January 24 nomination, Jennifer Hegseth maintained personal stock investments in more than a dozen companies with current or recent federal contracts with the Department of Defense. While she may have only held onto the stocks for a period of two weeks to two months after her husband's confirmation, the contracts held by companies in which Jennifer Hegseth invested are collectively worth billions of dollars, a Fortune review of government documents indicates. In an ethics agreement he signed in January, Pete Hegseth did not list Jennifer Hegseth's defense-contractor stocks among personal assets the couple agreed to divest in order to avoid conflicts of interest. But on Monday, the federal Office of Government Ethics released a document revealing that Jennifer Hegseth had divested from all of her defense-contractor holdings between early February and late March, just before Trump declared a spate of 'Liberation Day' tariffs that ultimately tanked the stock market. The sales were first reported by NOTUS. The Hegseths first disclosed the existence of the defense-contractor investments to the White House in January and December. The Office of Government Ethics did not officially certify the sales were 'in compliance with applicable laws and regulations' until June 6. Fortune first inquired about the status of the Hegseths' personal finances in March and made repeated inquiries in recent weeks. Had Jennifer Hegseth continued holding her defense-contractor investments, they would have posed a significant conflict of interest for Pete Hegseth, particularly given her apparent hands-on involvement with Pentagon matters, ethics watchdogs told Fortune. Jennifer Hegseth's now-jettisoned stock holdings included shares of core military weapon and defense systems companies, including Northrop Grumman Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp. and Honeywell International, according to a federal disclosure filed with the Office of Government Ethics. They also include shares of several computing, technology and telecommunications companies, such as Advanced Micro Devices, Amazon Web Services, IBM, T-Mobile, Google parent Alphabet and Thermo Fisher Scientific. Taken together, Jennifer Hegseth's defense-contractor stock investments were worth between $71,015 and $365,000 as of January, documents filed with the federal Office of Government Ethics indicate. (Appointees are only required by law to disclose their family assets in broad ranges.) The sales come at a time when Trump himself has personally set a laissez-faire standard for financial conflicts, with neither he nor his appointees in acute fear of scrutiny from federal authorities or ethics regulators. Several other high-profile Trump appointees actively hold personal investments that could pose conflicts of interest with their public service. The disclosure of Jennifer Hegseth's defense-contractor stocks also represents a reversal of what the Hegseths had previously indicated about their investments. A three-page ethics agreement signed in January by Pete Hegseth, the former Fox News television host nominated by Trump to lead the DoD, stated he will not 'participate personally and substantially in any particular matter in which I know that I have a financial interest' unless he first obtains a written waiver or exemption. This expressly includes financial interests 'imputed' to him, including 'any spouse or minor child of mine,' according to the agreement. 'It is my responsibility to understand and comply with commitments outlined in this agreement,' Pete Hegseth stated. But Hegseth's ethics agreement did not indicate his wife, Jennifer, would sell or otherwise alter the status of her defense-contractor stocks. Following Pete Hegseth's narrow confirmation on January 24, the newly minted defense secretary offered further indication that Jennifer Hegseth would retain her defense contractor stocks, checking 'N/A' for 'not applicable' on an ethics agreement compliance certification document asking whether he had 'completed all of the divestitures indicated in my ethics agreement within the time period specified.' It's unclear whether Jennifer Hegseth's defense-contractor stock holdings put Pete Hegseth in conflict with existing federal-ethics law, which provides a 'de minimis exemption' for 'disqualifying' spousal stock holdings that together do not exceed $50,000. A 2023 advisory from the Department of Defense's Standards of Conduct Office acknowledges this exemption while advising all agency personnel 'must continuously monitor for and prevent conflicts of interest between their official duties and their personal financial interests.' Jennifer Hegseth could not be reached for comment. Prior to confirmation Monday of Jennifer Hegseth's stock sales, two Pentagon spokespeople declined to answer a series of specific questions posed by Fortune about Pete Hegseth's ethics agreement, Jennifer Hegseth's stock investments, and the couple's future financial plans. They likewise declined to answer questions about Jennifer Hegseth's role advising her husband in his work as defense secretary. 'Secretary Hegseth's wife is an incredibly accomplished woman and leader. She is an asset to her husband and an advocate for military families,' Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson told Fortune in a written statement. 'The secretary fully complies with all financial disclosure requirements and ethics regulations,' chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell also said in a statement. In response to questions Monday about Jennifer Hegseth's stock sales, the Pentagon's press office wrote: 'Beyond the previous statements provided, we have nothing additional to share.' Legal or not, the Hegseths' ownership of defense-contractor stocks would have been ethically problematic, said Scott Amey, general counsel for the nonpartisan watchdog organization Project on Government Oversight. 'Public service is public trust, and it's important that anyone going into government service is representing the interest of the public and not their own personal and financial interests or the interests of former or future employers or clients,' Amey said. 'The public deserves to have trust in their government leaders that they're there for the right purposes and not there to line their own pockets.' He added: 'There's a simple way to handle this: Sell these interests and remove any questioning of the government service you're providing.' The Hegseths' personal finances were briefly raised at Pete Hegseth's January confirmation hearing, an animated proceeding dominated by accusations—and rebuttals—of Hegseth's alleged marital infidelity, domestic violence, excessive drinking, and nonprofit-business mismanagement. Hegseth has denied wrongdoing. But none of these concerns, mostly articulated by Democrats, were enough to derail Hegseth's nomination, which was approved when Vice President JD Vance cast a tie-breaking vote in favor of Hegseth. And Hegseth's financial interests—he earned a salary of $4,602,340 from Fox News prior to his appointment, according to a financial disclosure—have received little scrutiny since. 'I have failed in things in my life, and thankfully, I'm redeemed by my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,' Hegseth said at his hearing. For Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who grilled Hegseth at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, said there was only one financial choice for him to make. 'It's an egregious and unethical conflict of interest for Defense Secretary Hegseth's wife to own defense industry stocks while participating in Pentagon meetings and Signal war chats. The Hegseth family must divest,' Warren said in an email to Fortune immediately prior to confirmation of Jennifer Hegseth's stock sale. 'No one should have to wonder whether military decisions are made based on the national interest or boosting their own stock portfolio.' The Hegseths' personal finances illustrate differences in how Trump and President Joe Biden grappled with ethical standards affecting their key administration appointees. On Biden's first day in office on Jan. 20, 2021, he signed an executive order that in part required appointees to 'commit to decision-making on the merits and exclusively in the public interest, without regard to private gain or personal benefit.' Biden's 'ethics pledge' went beyond existing federal law in order to 'restore and maintain public trust in government.' Among the Biden officials affected was Lloyd Austin, who served as defense secretary for the duration of Biden's four-year term. Austin acknowledged owning a six- to seven-figures worth of stock in defense contractor [hotlink]Raytheon Technologies[/hotlink], now known as RTX. Austin served on Raytheon's corporate board until January 2021, resigning upon Biden nominating him. In his January 2021 ethics agreement with the federal government, Austin—unlike Hegseth—agreed to divest from Raytheon stock to 'avoid any actual or apparent conflict of interest.' By early March 2021, Austin had sold his Raytheon stock shares, valued at between $501,002 and $1,015,000, according to a transaction document filed with the Office of Government Ethics. A later filing indicated Austin received a cash payout of $739,726 related to the sale of his Raytheon stock. Subsequent ethics disclosures indicate Austin and his wife only invested in broad-based mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), not individual stocks. Biden's administration wasn't trouble-free, either. For one, the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General found that Biden-era EPA Assistant Administrator Joseph Goffman 'failed to meet his ethical obligations under the federal financial conflicts-of-interest prohibition'—an allegation he denied. Trump—like Biden, or any U.S. president—is not subject to the same ethics and conflicts-of-interest laws that apply to presidential administration appointees, or many ethics laws at all. Even President Jimmy Carter, who put his peanut farm in a blind trust to avoid the spectre of financial conflict, did so voluntarily, not because of a legal mandate. And while presidents, including Trump, are required by law to file an annual disclosure detailing aspects of their personal finances, such as assets and liabilities, Trump is unlike any previous president for obliterating lines between his presidential public service and personal business interests. This is illustrated by his recent dealings with Middle Eastern nations and pursuit of cryptocurrency riches at a time when his administration is advancing pro-industry crypto policies and creating a strategic cryptocurrency reserve. Trump has promised to make the United States the 'crypto capital of the world' and 'global leader in cryptocurrency.' Trump has issued no Biden-esque 'ethics pledge' executive order during his second term. Kari Lake, U.S. Agency for Global Media senior adviser Trump empowered Lake—a former journalist and failed U.S. Senate and Arizona gubernatorial candidate—to gut the government's international broadcasting agency, which includes the flagship Voice of America. In March, Lake disclosed a stock investment of up to $15,000 in Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind Trump's Truth Social media platform. Trump used Truth Social to announce his appointment of Lake. She also disclosed investments in about two dozen different cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Etherium, Stellar, Hedera, and Dogecoin. Lake has not signed an ethics agreement with the government, or otherwise indicated she has sold, or plans to sell, these financial interests. Occasionally, the White House will grant limited-scope ethics waivers to government officials for financial reasons. It gave Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. one for four family investment funds among his many assets. It also gave one to Energy Secretary Chris Wright for energy-related investments he hadn't yet sold before speaking in March at global energy conference CERAWeek. There is no evidence of Lake receiving such a waiver. 'We can confirm that no additional documents exist at this time,' the U.S. Agency for Global Media's Ethics Office wrote in an email to Fortune on May 30. Representatives for Lake did not respond to questions. In a May 28 post to X, Lake wrote: 'My top priority as the Trump Administration's Senior Advisor to the agency that oversees VOA and its Grantees is to effectuate President Trump's Executive Order to reduce the federal bureaucracy and push forward his America First Agenda that will protect the American taxpayer.' Lake's crypto and Trump Media holdings underscore an inconsistent approach among Trump officials to avoid real or perceived financial conflicts. For example, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard committed in an ethics agreement from January 15 to sell several of her four- or five-figure cryptocurrency holdings, including Bitcoin, Cronos, Solana, and Ethereum, as well as an investment in the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Trust. She likewise agreed to sell her shares of stock in Tesla and conservative media platform Rumble Inc., each of which she valued at between $100,001 and $250,000. But like Lake, Hegseth, the defense secretary, made no such ethics pledge to sell his own investment in Bitcoin, which he valued in January at between $15,001 and $50,000. And unlike Lake, one top Trump official sold off a Trump-related investment in the name of avoiding conflicts. 'I will divest my interests in Trump Media & Technology Group, as soon as practicable but not later than 90 days after my confirmation,' now-Attorney General Pam Bondi affirmed in an ethics agreement dated January 14. In early May, Bondi made good on her pledge, divesting between $1 million and $5 million worth of Trump Media & Technology Group stock on April 2, according to a transaction filing. But Secretary of Education Linda McMahon's investment in Trump Media & Technology Group—she is a former member of the company's board of directors—is less straightforward. McMahon states in a February 5 ethics agreement she is entitled 'unvested' restricted stock units that 'will vest in nine substantially equal installments beginning March 25, 2025 through March 25, 2027.' McMahon also states she 'will divest the resulting stock from my vested RSUs as soon as practicable but not later than 90 days after my confirmation.' The Department of Education did not respond to Fortune questions about this arrangement, including whether McMahon will receive vested stock in Trump Media & Technology Group at various times through 2027, then proceed to sell it as she receives it. Dave Levinthal is a Washington, D.C.-based investigative journalist. Dave previously worked as editor-in-chief of Raw Story, deputy editor at Business Insider, and as an editor or reporter at the Center for Public Integrity, Politico, OpenSecrets and the Dallas Morning News. He has also written for The Atlantic, TIME, Rolling Stone, the Daily Beast, NOTUS and The Ankler. This story was originally featured on
Business Upturn
6 days ago
- Business
- Business Upturn
Administrator Loeffler Applauds House Passage of 'Save SBA from Sanctuary Cities Act'
By GlobeNewswire Published on June 6, 2025, 03:45 IST WASHINGTON, June 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, Kelly Loeffler, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) applauded the U.S. House of Representatives' bipartisan passage of H.R. 2931, the Save SBA from Sanctuary Cities Act of 2025, which will support the agency's decision to relocate SBA field offices out of sanctuary jurisdictions that refuse to comply with federal immigration law. 'By harboring criminal illegal aliens, sanctuary cities jeopardize both the lives of American citizens and the livelihoods of our small businesses — which is exactly why the SBA is moving our field offices out of these lawless jurisdictions and into safer, more accessible communities that comply with federal law,' said Administrator Loeffler. 'This Administration is committed to ending the illegal invasion of our nation – and I am grateful for the bipartisan group of House lawmakers who voted in support of that agenda by passing the Save SBA from Sanctuary Cities Act of 2025.' In March, the SBA announced it would relocate six of its regional offices out of sanctuary cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York City, and Seattle. This decision was undertaken not only in support of President Donald J. Trump's Executive Order 14218 ending the taxpayer subsidization of open borders, but also as part of SBA's commitment to relocating field offices to safer, less costly, and more accessible communities. Under the leadership of Administrator Loeffler, the SBA has taken numerous steps to put American citizens first. Earlier this year, the agency announced it would require SBA loan applications to include a citizenship verification provision to ensure only legal, eligible applicants have access to taxpayer-funded SBA loan programs. Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with GlobeNewswire. Business Upturn takes no editorial responsibility for the same. GlobeNewswire provides press release distribution services globally, with substantial operations in North America and Europe.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Administrator Loeffler Applauds House Passage of 'Save SBA from Sanctuary Cities Act'
H.R.2931 supports SBA decision to relocate field offices out of sanctuary jurisdictions WASHINGTON, June 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Kelly Loeffler, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) applauded the U.S. House of Representatives' bipartisan passage of H.R. 2931, the Save SBA from Sanctuary Cities Act of 2025, which will support the agency's decision to relocate SBA field offices out of sanctuary jurisdictions that refuse to comply with federal immigration law. 'By harboring criminal illegal aliens, sanctuary cities jeopardize both the lives of American citizens and the livelihoods of our small businesses — which is exactly why the SBA is moving our field offices out of these lawless jurisdictions and into safer, more accessible communities that comply with federal law,' said Administrator Loeffler. 'This Administration is committed to ending the illegal invasion of our nation – and I am grateful for the bipartisan group of House lawmakers who voted in support of that agenda by passing the Save SBA from Sanctuary Cities Act of 2025.' In March, the SBA announced it would relocate six of its regional offices out of sanctuary cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York City, and Seattle. This decision was undertaken not only in support of President Donald J. Trump's Executive Order 14218 ending the taxpayer subsidization of open borders, but also as part of SBA's commitment to relocating field offices to safer, less costly, and more accessible communities. Under the leadership of Administrator Loeffler, the SBA has taken numerous steps to put American citizens first. Earlier this year, the agency announced it would require SBA loan applications to include a citizenship verification provision to ensure only legal, eligible applicants have access to taxpayer-funded SBA loan programs. CONTACT: SBA HQ Press Team U.S. Small Business Administration press_office@ in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump's SBA administrator visits Central Texas gun manufacturer
FLORENCE, Texas (KXAN) — The woman overseeing the Small Business Administration under President Donald Trump toured a Central Texas gun manufacturing facility Thursday morning as part of a nationwide tour. Kelly Loeffler, the Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator, visited Staccato in Florence, about an hour north of Austin. KXAN was invited to join her exclusively. 'That's what the Small Business Administration is about, it's about creating opportunity for small businesses like this one that are creating jobs and economic growth across this country,' Loeffler said. 'We've proposed to Congress doubling our manufacturing loan size to $10 million from $5 million so that manufacturers can continue to grow and invest just like here.' Earlier this year, the SBA announced a 'Made in America Manufacturing Initiative' which it says will cut down on red tape and regulations, make loans more accessible and promote a local manufacturing workforce. You can read the full list of promises made under the initiative here. 'That's what President Trump's agenda is about, it's deregulation, it's tax cuts, it's economic opportunity and growth for all Americans,' said Loeffler. The initiative promises to 'support President Trump's manufacturing agenda, including tariffs to restore fair and reciprocal trade…' but some Central Texas businesses have expressed concern about the impact tariffs may have. We asked Loeffler about those concerns Thursday. 'Yeah, so when we hear the word 'tariff' think fair trade,' Loeffler responded. 'Our small businesses have been incredibly disadvantaged by unfair trade policies in the last 30 years that hollowed out this country…remember, manufacturing is 99% small businesses.' The same day a court blocked most of President Trump's tariffs. The ruling left tariffs in place the 25% tariffs on cars, car parts and foreign-made steel and aluminum. The Trump administration has already filed a notice planning to appeal to the Supreme Court. You can read more about that legal process and the latest ruling here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mass. Sen. Markey, Rep. Neal call on feds to keep Springfield Small Biz Admin office open
A cadre of Massachusetts pols is calling the head of the U.S. Small Business Administration to keep the agency's satellite office in Springfield open and fully staffed after it was 'inexplicably" targeted for closing by the Elon Musk-helmed Department of Government Efficiency. The office, currently located at 1 Federal St. in Springfield, was among 17 leases that the quasi-governmental DOGE terminated during a flurry of actions in March, MassLive previously reported. The lease on the 894-square-foot space had been set to end in June 2028. The decision leaves Western Massachusetts, and the Pioneer Valley specifically, 'without access to vital SBA services and support,' Democratic U.S. Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren wrote to SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler in a letter shared exclusively with MassLive. 'With this office closure, the Trump administration is continuing its nonsensical war against small businesses, dismantling the infrastructure that supports them and undermining the foundation of American entrepreneurship,' Markey and Warren wrote in the letter set to be made public on Wednesday. They were joined on the letter by U.S. Reps. Richard Neal, D-1st District, and James P. McGovern, D-2nd District, whose constituents would be hit by the office's closing. Loeffler, a former corporate executive, former Republican U.S. senator from Georgia, and a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, has been making deep cuts at an agency that's a critical resource for small business owners across the country, The New York Times reported last week. The changes, which include rolling back access to credit, have hit businesses run by women, immigrants, and people of color, as the Republican White House also rolls back diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across the government, the newspaper reported. Markey, the ranking Democrat on the Senate's Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee, has pressed Loeffler for information on the changes. But she has ignored those inquiries, the Malden Democrat told the newspaper. 'It's unconscionable that the Trump administration would treat such a vital agency so callously,' Markey told the Times. 'They're destroying the areas where they do have expertise and it's vital to invest, and then moving over areas where the agency is going to wind up overwhelmed,' Markey continued. That includes inheriting a $1.66 trillion student loan portfolio from the mostly gutted U.S. Department of Education, according to the Times. In their letter Loeffler, Markey and the other Bay State pols noted that the lease for the Springfield SBA office costs less than $61,000 a year, and that there are no longer any workers in that office because they've since left. And there are no current plans to relocate it or to hire new employees, they wrote. Without an outpost in Springfield, the nearest extant SBA office is in Boston, they wrote. Shuttering the Federal Street office 'will place a tremendous burden on small business owners, forcing them to take time away from their work and drive hours — in some cases a six-hour round trip," they wrote. The half-century-old agency expanded rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic, swelling to 10,000 employees, which dropped to 6,000 under the former Biden administration, the Times reported. It was expected to contract more after that. The agency's lending arm doled out $56 billion last year, and its flagship loan program is generally supposed to operate without a government subsidy, the newspaper reported. In March, the Trump administration announced it was cutting the agency's staff by 43%, or about 2,700 employees. Current and former agency employees told the Times that the reductions were not organized. In addition to their plea, the Massachusetts lawmakers also sent Loeffler a series of questions, giving the SBA until Friday to respond. They include identifying the person, or persons, who approved the decision to spike the Springfield lease, the justification that was provided for that decision, whether there are plans to relocate it, and how the agency intends to serve small business owners in the western part of the state. 'The SBA's physical presence in Springfield, Massachusetts, ensures that entrepreneurs in underserved communities, particularly those in rural areas, have the resources they need to compete,' the lawmakers wrote. 'Closing the Springfield district office is a grave mistake that will hurt small businesses, harm job creation, and weaken the economic foundation of our region,' they wrote. A 'historic battle': Mass pols protest Medicaid cuts in 'Big Beautiful Bill' | John L. Micek Trump administration orders pause on scheduling student visa applicant interviews 'Worth fighting for': Community members, fellow students rally to Harvard's cause 'Devastating impact': Trump's attacks on Harvard could cost Mass. millions, Healey warns Gaming Commission grants Western Mass $3.2 million in casino mitigation funds Read the original article on MassLive.
