U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) again has demanded that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) provide Congress with documents regarding the agency’s voter registration activities and political travel.
“Where there is smoke, there is usually fire and the SBA’s refusal to answer basic questions fuels the appearance that the agency is disregarding the Hatch Act and engaging in partisan politics ahead of the 2024 election,” said Sen. Ernst, ranking member of the U.S. Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee.
“The Biden administration weaponizing government resources adds insult to injury for small businesses who have been put through the wringer by inflation and the rapid expansion of the federal regulatory state,” Sen. Ernst added. “Sunlight is truly the best disinfectant, and the SBA needs to stop dodging accountability and commit to being transparent.”
Sen. Ernst joined U.S. Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX), chairman of the U.S. House Small Business Committee, in reiterating those concerns in a July 15 letter sent to SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, specifically asking her to provide documents to the committees’ investigation into the SBA’s March 19 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the State of Michigan concerning voter registration and whether the SBA’s travel is politically motivated.
“Over the course of the 118th Congress, the SBA has consistently delayed the production of documents and failed to provide documents responsive to both committees’ requests,” the lawmakers wrote. “Our committees have an obligation to the American taxpayer to conduct diligent oversight.”
In a May 16 joint letter, the committees requested transcripts and reimbursement summaries for political or mixed travel, as well as calendars and travel itineraries for several senior SBA employees. However, in response, the SBA provided 108 pages of media advisories concerning events the administrator had attended — “which as the committees noted to your staff, were not what the committees requested and is not considered responsive to the request,” wrote Sen. Ernst and her colleague.
“The committees received no calendar records and zero information related to what happened on these trips,” they wrote. “Further, no budgeting information or documentation of any sort was provided relating to how the SBA expenses political or mixed trips. Through discussions with the committees, the SBA indicated it would provide some of these documents in July, but again, the SBA has failed to provide documents in a timely manner.”
Even now, three months after the initial letter was sent and nearly four months after the House Committee began asking the SBA for information on the MOU, the SBA has not provided a clear response on the timing of the next production, they added.
Sen. Ernst and her colleague specified that by July 29, the SBA administrator must provide them with a full, unredacted copy of any implementation plans regarding the MOU, as well as all communications between and among SBA personnel, and all communications between SBA personnel and third parties, including but not limited to small business owners, associations, nonprofits, and SBA resource partners in the State of Michigan, from March 10, 2021, to the present regarding the MOU, among other items.
“If the SBA fails to provide a substantial, relevant, and responsive production of [the documents]… the House committee will evaluate the use of compulsory process,” they wrote.