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The
SBA was established in 1953 to offer resources to small
businesses and helps administer small business and disaster
recovery loans. It played a crucial role during the pandemic,
helping distribute small business aid. Now the goal is to return
to pre-pandemic staffing levels and cut some programs started
during the Biden administration, said the new head of the SBA,
Kelly Loeffler.
“By eliminating non-mission-critical positions and consolidating
functions, we will revert to the staffing levels of the last
Trump Administration,” Loeffler said Friday in a statement.
The SBA said its loan guarantee and disaster assistance
programs, as well as its field and veteran operations, won't be
affected. The staffing reductions, which will cull 2,700 jobs
from the agency's workforce of 6,500, will be a combination of
voluntary resignations, the expiration of COVID-era and other
term appointments, and some job cuts.
The layoffs at the federal agency are part of a larger campaign
by the Trump Administration to shrink the federal workforce, an
effort has been led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government
Efficiency.
Separately on Friday, Trump announced student loans would be
handled by the SBA as part of a plan to shift Education
Department responsibilities to other federal agencies. The SBA
did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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