FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—President Donald Trump’s Small Business Administration is reviewing whether Planned Parenthood affiliates illegally received $88 million in loans during the COVID-19 pandemic, The Daily Signal can first report.
“At the height of the pandemic, affiliates of Planned Parenthood took $88 million in taxpayer dollars to fund their abortion-on-demand agenda—and the Biden administration made sure they got nearly every cent forgiven, even after the first Trump administration protested,” SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said.
“Six years later, the Trump SBA holds the same conviction: Planned Parenthood Federation of America was never eligible to receive a dime in pandemic-era relief from taxpayers.”
The administration’s move to challenge millions in funding for America’s largest abortion provider comes the week of the March for Life, when thousands of pro-lifers flock to Washington, D.C., to advocate for the right to life for the unborn.
SBA on Thursday sent letters to 38 Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. affiliates requiring them to prove they were eligible for the more than $88 million in COVID-19-era relief through the administration’s former Paycheck Protection Program.
In addition, the Biden administration forgave 34 loans to Planned Parenthood affiliates under the program.
Now, SBA is reviewing if Planned Parenthood affiliates misrepresented the size of their organizations or the nature of their affiliation with the national organization to unlawfully qualify for the loans.
“As part of the review underway, not only will we expose the Planned Parenthood affiliates who took advantage of the American people—we will take every necessary step to force every bad actor to pay them back,” Loeffler said.
Planned Parenthood chapters that don’t provide the requested documentation may be determined to have been ineligible for the loan and the subsequent forgiveness.
Additionally, affiliates that SBA finds to have provided incorrect or false eligibility certifications will face “severe penalties, including repayment of the loan, ineligibility for loan forgiveness, and possible referral for civil or criminal penalties.”
The Paycheck Protection Program, which ran from April 3, 2020, to May 31, 2021, was formed to help small businesses keep employees on payroll amid disruptions caused by the pandemic. Applicants were required to self-certify their size and eligibility to the administration.
Though each Planned Parenthood affiliate said they were an independent qualified entity with fewer than 500 employees, per the program’s requirements, the Trump administration found that none of them were eligible due to their affiliation with Planned Parenthood Federation of America, thus together exceeding the 500 employee limit.
President Joe Biden’s administration then forgave many of the loans to Planned Parenthood affiliates without “engaging in a meaningful review of their respective applications.”
The SBA is able to use its authority to open a review of loans despite prior loan forgiveness, according to a news release.
Members of Congress had previously requested an investigation of the PPP funds given to Planned Parenthood affiliates.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, last March demanded “answers over how the funding was approved, and loans were forgiven despite PPFA being ineligible to receive PPP funds but were stonewalled at every turn by the Biden administration.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., sent a letter to the first Trump administration asking the Department of Justice to investigate if granting loans to Planned Parenthood violates SBA’s affiliation rules.
“As you know, fraudulent loan applications can trigger both civil and criminal penalties,” the letter said.
