Ranking Member Markey Criticizes Trump’s “Freedom 250” and Corporate Cronyism at Small Business Committee Hearing

RM Markey: "Trump's 'Corruption 250' celebration hands blank checks to big corporations while small businesses suffer"

(Washington, June 17) - Ranking Member Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today condemned Trump's shameless self-dealing and corrupt big business agenda at a Small Business Committee hearing titled "250 Years of Main Street: Retail to Research." At the hearing, Ranking Member Markey spotlighted the Trump administration's brazen efforts to reward loyal CEO billionaires, big businesses, and mega-donors as American small businesses, workers, and families struggle to navigate Trump's affordability crisis. Ranking Member Markey also highlighted the importance of supporting immigrant entrepreneurs in their pursuit of the American Dream and emphasized the outsized impact of immigrant entrepreneurs in the innovation economy.

Small businesses have been hit hard by Trump's reckless economic agenda, including by his tariff taxes, his reckless and expensive illegal war with Iran, his drastic cuts to affordable health care, and his attacks on small business contractors. In a report released last week, Ranking Member Markey outlined how Trump's efforts to slash opportunities for small businesses in the federal marketplace are crushing small business contractors across the country. Since Trump took office in 2025, American small business contractors have been shortchanged $47 billion in contracts with the federal government, and over 6,500 small contractors have been forced out of the federal marketplace by Trump's anti-small business policies.

"Our nation's prosperity is owed to the hard work and resilience of our nation's small businesses, our workers, our communities of color, and our immigrants. But today, President Trump makes it clear who he stands with and what he stands for. Just look at the billionaires and mega-donors who were with him Sunday night watching the cage fight on the White House lawn," said Ranking Member Markey. "President Trump is putting profits over people, billionaires and trillionaires over working families, and Wall Street over Main Street. Corporate cronyism and shameless self-dealing are not what truly make America great. It is the spirit of inclusivity, idealism, and ingenuity that has fueled our nation for the last two and a half centuries."

Ranking Member Markey is leading the fight against Trump's reckless economic agenda.

• Last week, Ranking Markey released a new report highlighting Trump's drastic reduction in federal contracting dollars awarded to American small businesses, including minority-owned small businesses.
• Earlier last week, Ranking Member Markey and Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) sent a letter to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Rodney Scott demanding that tariff refunds, legally owed to American small businesses, are fully paid without additional delays, obstructions, or complications.
• Earlier in June at a Small Business Committee hearing, Ranking Member Markey slammed the Trump administration and MAGA Republicans for slashing essential nutrition and health care programs for millions of children and working families.
• In May, Ranking Member Markey sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Andrew Ferguson demanding that the FTC investigate big oil and gas companies for driving up costs at the pump for American families and small businesses.
• In April, Ranking Member Markey, alongside House Small Business Committee Ranking Member Nydia Velázquez (D-NY-7) introduced the Investing in the American Dream Act, which combats anti-immigrant policies imposed by Trump's SBA that bar businesses with legal permanent residents, including green card holders, from receiving SBA loans.

Permalink: https://www.sbc.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2026/6/ranking-member-markey-criticizes-trump-s-freedom-250-and-corporate-cronyism-at-small-business-committee-hearing