Washington (February 21, 2025) - Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee Ranking Member Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) yesterday led Democratic committee members in a letter to Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Kelly Loeffler demanding answers on the recent arbitrary mass firings by the Trump administration of SBA public servants, including loan and disaster assistance staff and veterans.
In the letter the lawmakers wrote, “Over the past week, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has taken unprecedented personnel actions that have gutted its civil service workforce around the country. This includes the firing of hundreds of SBA employees serving their probationary work period. Yet, SBA has provided us with no direct information about these terminations, including why they were undertaken, the number and identities of fired employees, or which SBA offices were impacted.”
The lawmakers continued, “In order to ensure small businesses continue to receive the SBA services they need to thrive, we request the following: First, put an immediate stop to the arbitrary firings of career civil servants and reinstate them immediately, with backpay. Second, have your Deputy Inspector General conduct a thorough review of the SBA’s actions to ensure that any termination was lawful. And third, promptly brief the Committee’s minority staff on SBA’s recent personnel actions and its plan to implement the President’s deferred resignations and RIF executive order.”
The letter is signed by fellow Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee Democrats, Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).
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