WASHINGTON – On Tuesday, U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) joined U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Republican members of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs (HSGAC), in requesting information from U.S. Small Business Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman regarding illegally obtained Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans received by Planned Parenthood affiliates across the U.S.
“On May 19, 2020, SBA notified a number of Planned Parenthood affiliates that they had wrongfully applied for 38 PPP loans totaling more than $80 million dollars. SBA determined that these local affiliates of Planned Parenthood Federation of America were ineligible for PPP loans under the applicable affiliation rules and size standards, and that the loans they received should be returned,” the Senators wrote. “Despite this determination, the SBA approved 17 new PPP loans to Planned Parenthood affiliates totaling nearly $40 million in 2021. Moreover, under your leadership, the SBA has forgiven at least 34 Planned Parenthood PPP loans to date. This raises serious questions about the SBA’ s management of the PPP program which was intended to provide relief to small businesses. In order to better assist Congress in performing its oversight function, please provide the information requested in this letter no later than 5:00PM on May 10, 2022.”
Sens. Johnson and Paul were joined on the letter by Senators Rick Scott (R-Fla.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), and Mitt Romney (R-Utah).
BACKGROUND:
Under 5 U.S.C. § 2954, “[a]n Executive agency, on request of the Committee on [Oversight and Reform] of the House of Representatives, or of any seven members thereof, or on request of the Committee on [Homeland Security and] Governmental Affairs of the Senate, or any five members thereof, shall submit any information requested of it relating to any matter within the jurisdiction of the committee.”
The U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is charged with studying:
The efficiency and economy of operations of all branches of the Government including the possible existence of fraud, misfeasance, malfeasance, collusion, mismanagement, incompetence, corruption or unethical practices, waste, extravagance, conflicts of interest, and the improper expenditure of Government funds in transactions, contracts, and activities of the Government or of Government officials and employees and any and all such improper practices between Government personnel and corporations, individuals, companies, or persons affiliated therewith, doing business with the Government, and the compliance or noncompliance of such corporations, companies, or individuals or other entities with the rules, regulations, and laws governing the various governmental agencies and the Governments relationship with the public.
The text of the letter can be found here.
