Latest news with #loanprograms
Reuters
3 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
US energy loan office should fund oil, gas, White House aide says
WASHINGTON, June 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Department's loan office should fund oil and gas infrastructure, a White House aide said on Tuesday. "One of the big problems is, in the past the ... loan program office has been used for a lot of these renewable projects," Jarrod Agen, a deputy assistant to the president and executive director of the National Energy Dominance Council, said at a Politico conference on energy. The Loan Programs Office grew rapidly under former President Joe Biden, thanks to legislation passed during his term, and has hundreds of billions of dollars in loan and loan guarantee capacity. Agen said the administration is changing the priority of the LPO, which is meant to help finance emerging energy projects that show promise but face difficulties getting bank loans. "So, yes, we want to invest more and prioritize projects that are oil and gas-related, nuclear-related," Agen said. President Donald Trump's new energy dominance council has focused on increasing already record-high oil and gas output and cutting climate and pollution regulations on fossil fuels. In his first term, Trump only used the LPO to finance the Vogtle nuclear plant in Georgia. The Trump administration wants to offer tens of billions of dollars in LPO financing over the next two years to projects developing nuclear and geothermal power and minerals used in everything from wind and solar power to weapons systems, according to the White House budget for fiscal 2026. Republicans in the House have pushed to slash LPO's lending.
Entrepreneur
19-05-2025
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Big Government Changes Are Coming for Small Businesses — What You Need to Know
The Trump Administration has recently announced sweeping changes to the Small Business Administration (SBA) — and many of them could directly affect your business. From staffing cuts to rising loan fees, these shifts may alter how entrepreneurs access funding and support. Below are the five changes I believe will have the greatest impact on my clients — and what you need to know to prepare. 1. Scaling back employees, focusing on fraud One of the first announcements coming out of the Agency was its plans to reduce its workforce by 43% and focus more on fraud. Despite these cutbacks, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler says that core services to the public, including the agency's loan guarantee and disaster assistance programs, as well as its field and veteran operations, will not be impacted. The agency will be focusing on Covid-era fraud claims that are causing rising defaults and delinquencies, as well as negative cash flow.
