Tenney Demands Answers from SBA Administrator About Pandemic Relief Loans Illegally Awarded to Planned Parenthood

Washington, DC – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-22) today questioned Isabella Guzman, Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), about pandemic relief loans illegally awarded and then forgiven to Planned Parenthood by the agency.

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) was created by Congress in the CARES Act to provide relief for America’s struggling small businesses in the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the program, SBA was prohibited from issuing and forgiving loans to entities with more than 500 employees across their affiliates, excluding only hotels and restaurants. However, despite these affiliation rules, SBA has forgiven 38 individual loans totaling roughly $67 million in taxpayer dollars to affiliates of Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), which well exceeds the 500-employee threshold for PPP eligibility.

“I am sick and tired of SBA’s duplicity and lack of honesty on this topic. Congress writes the laws and the agencies, including the SBA, are bound to abide by them. I am urging my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee to withhold funding from the SBA for fiscal year 2023 equal to the amount of loans illegally forgiven for Planned Parenthood affiliates. The American people strongly oppose taxpayer-funded abortions, and they deserve better than this,” said Tenney.

Tenney previously pressed Administrator Guzman for answers about PPP loans provided to planned parenthood on November 17, 2021. On January 12, 2022, Tenney questioned SBA Inspector General Ware over his failure to stop illegal Planned Parenthood PPP loans. On February 15, 2022, Tenney sent a letter to Administrator Guzman again asking for answers about PPP loans forgiven for Planned Parenthood of Central and Western New York.

A full clip of Tenney’s questions at the hearing can be found here. 

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