(Washington, June 26) - Small Business Committee Ranking Member Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Commerce Committee Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), and Democrats on both committees today wrote to U.S. Small Business Administrator (SBA) Kelly Loeffler and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick demanding answers from the Trump administration on its efforts to undermine programs that support minority entrepreneurs, including the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), as well as small business contracting and entrepreneurial development programs administered by the SBA. In the letter, the senators also ask the Trump administration how it intends to properly serve underserved and minority entrepreneurs and follow Federal laws establishing support for such entrepreneurs.
The letter is cosigned by Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.).
The lawmakers write, “On March 14, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order directing the MBDA and several other agencies to reduce their functions to the minimum amount required by law. On April 10, 2025, nearly every MBDA employee was let go or reassigned. The cancellation of all MBDA grants and Business Center contracts soon followed. Termination letters sent to MBDA grantees and Business Centers—and subsequently rescinded after the Rhode Island Federal District Court issued a preliminary injunction halting the executive order’s implementation—claimed their grants or contracts were no longer consistent with the agency’s priorities. But Congress, not the Trump administration, authorized the MBDA and established its purposes when it passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021. Oversight letters from Democratic members of the Senate Commerce Committee regarding the Administration’s actions have gone unanswered.”
The lawmakers continue, “The Trump administration’s war on targeted federal programs is already hurting minority and underserved small businesses. These actions are unacceptable and harm the American economy. Minority-owned businesses employ millions of Americans and generate more than $2 trillion in annual revenue. In the contracting space, the importance of a fully inclusive supplier base has also been well-documented, including in the manufacturing industry. Rather than strengthening support for minority-owned firms, President Trump has instead dismantled the MBDA, lowered contracting goals for SDBs, undermined OSDBUs, and proposed eliminating various entrepreneurial development programs. Undermining and dismantling targeted federal programs that recognize the historic challenges faced by minority business owners have will ultimately hurt local communities and weaken the U.S. economy.”
The lawmakers request responses to the following questions by July 10, 2025:
- Please explain how the Department of Commerce plans to utilize congressionally appropriated MBDA funds in accordance with statutory requirements.
- The MBDA Business Centers program is statutorily authorized under 15 U.S.C. § 9523. Please explain how decisions to fire staff who service the program and cancel Business Center contracts were made.
- Please detail how the Trump administration plans to meet the existing SDB contracting goal. Will the SBA commit to advocating for the full staffing and resourcing of OSDBUs to ensure all small business contracting goals are met or exceeded? If not, why not?
- Please detail the specific reasons for the President’s request to eliminate ‘15 specialized and duplicative programs,’ including the Women’s Business Center Program, SCORE, the State Trade Expansion Program, Native American outreach, technical assistance for the Microloan program, Growth Accelerators, and Regional Innovation Clusters.
Ranking Members Markey and Cantwell have consistently pressed the Trump administration on Republicans' attacks on the MBDA and efforts to strip minority business owners of MBDA resources. On June 3, the senators hammered the Trump administration for its illegal dismantling of the MBDA. The senators asked the GAO to investigate whether actions by Trump Commerce Department officials or others in the Administration violated congressional directives, the extent to which they undermined MBDA’s congressional mandate and whether any officials have engaged in misconduct. On May 28, the senators demanded the Trump administration detail its compliance with a May 13 federal court injunction ordering it to stop the illegal dismantling of the MBDA and restore the agency’s personnel and grantmaking capacities. On May 1, the senators wrote to Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for the Minority Business Development Agency Keith Sonderling about the dismantling of the agency and recent funding termination notices sent to all grantees by DOGE.
