Senate Panel Approves New Small Biz Administration Lead

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On Tuesday (Jan. 31), the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee voted in favor of having Linda McMahon lead the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Reports said the vote was 18-1, with Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) casting the only “no” vote. McMahon’s nomination will need a full Senate vote before she can take her post, reports said.

“It goes without saying that a nearly unanimous committee vote to approve her nomination shows that members from both sides of the aisle have great confidence that she is the right leader for the SBA,” said Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), who currently serves as chairman of the Small Business Committee. Meanwhile, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the leading Democrat on the committee, said she is “pleased to hear that Mrs. McMahon will serve as a passionate advocate for small businesses and that she believes the SBA should continue as a cabinet-level, standalone agency.”

Earlier this week, reports surfaced that Senate Democrats had delayed the vote for President Trump’s pick to head the SBA.

“As a result of this irregular objection, the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship was not … able to convene as scheduled this evening to vote on Mrs. McMahon’s nomination,” an aide to the Senate committee told reporters.

McMahon is one step closer to taking the post as a new White House administration continues its first few weeks. President Trump’s administration is largely viewed as pro-business, with small businesses reporting higher levels of optimism in the wake of his taking office.

The Small Business Administration supports small businesses through funding and resources. Last year, the SBA revealed it is working with top technology giants, like Amazon, Microsoft and Facebook, to provide online tools to small business owners. Its lending operations, however, have been a bit of a roller coaster in the last few years; the SBA had to halt new small business lending operations in July 2015 because it reached its annual cap, though then-President Obama soon after signed a bill to raise the lending cap.