In Confirmation Hearing, Shaheen Receives Commitment from Linda McMahon to Preserve the Small Business Administration as a Standalone Agency
**Shaheen drew attention to SBA resource partners and how they have helped New Hampshire small businesses; McMahon committed to “continue outreach” with those organizations**
**Shaheen also asked about increasing access to federal prime and subprime contracts for small businesses**
Video of Sen. Shaheen’s opening statement and questioning is available here
(Washington, DC)— U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the Ranking Member of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee (SBC), questioned President Donald Trump’s nominee for Small Business Administrator, Linda McMahon, during her confirmation hearing today. In her questioning, Shaheen asked Mrs. McMahon to clarify her position on whether or not the Small Business Administration (SBA) should continue as a standalone agency, following up on comments made by McMahon during her Senate campaign in 2010. McMahon clarified that she is “a firm believer that the SBA needs to be a standalone agency” and that she intends to “execute as well as [she] can to advocate on behalf of small businesses.” She also stated her support of keeping the SBA at the cabinet level.
Shaheen also drew attention to the SBA’s resource partners, which are “critical to the mission of the SBA and to helping small businesses,” especially in rural areas, and noted their success for small businesses in New Hampshire. Shaheen asked McMahon to detail how she would maximize SBA’s resource partners and funding for their programs, such as those focused on veterans, women and entrepreneurs. McMahon said she would visit SBA districts and regions to meet with SBA members and hear about “what programs are working and what programs are not,” and she would “continue that outreach with all our different organizations and continue to mentor through the women’s centers.”
In their exchange, Shaheen asked McMahon to describe how she plans to be an advocate for small business in the Trump Administration and work with “federal agencies to increase small business opportunities for federal contracts.” Shaheen noted that for the first time last year, women small business owners had reached five percent in terms of access to federal contracts calling it “a milestone but a very slow start to what we need to do more of.” McMahon said she would want to “fully understand what those projects are and how we can best fit businesses to those contracts,” both prime and sub-prime contracts. She would also want to ensure businesses have the right “advocates in those markets.”
