Trump SBA to Extend Comment Period After Ranking Member Markey Leads Effort to Rescind SBA Policy that Reclassifies Billion-Dollar Businesses as “Small Businesses”

Trump admin policy would reclassify 114,000 larger businesses as "small" to access small business resources and win federal contracts meant for small businesses

Letter (PDF)

(Washington, September 23) - This week, the Small Business Administration (SBA) announced its plans to extend the deadline to submit comments on its controversial proposed rule regarding small business size standards until November 20. The Trump SBA's announcement came shortly after Ranking Member Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), alongside 12 of his Senate colleagues, sent a letter to Administrator Kelly Loeffler demanding that the Trump SBA rescind a harmful policy that would dramatically redefine what a small business is. The Administration's proposed policy would change the small business size standard to designate 114,000 larger companies some with annual revenue above $1 billion-as small businesses, giving these businesses access to small business resources and federal contracts typically set aside for actual small businesses.

In the letter, Ranking Member Markey and the lawmakers emphasized that small businesses will be shut out of the federal contracting space as government agencies award contracts to larger businesses, causing small businesses to lose revenue, lay off workers, or close their businesses entirely.

"For more than 70 years, SBA's mission has been clear: promote and protect the interests and viability of small businesses. By proceeding with this proposed methodology and rule, SBA moves further away from its mission of facilitating healthy small business participation in the U.S. economy. We urge SBA to rescind these proposals, meet in earnest with small businesses across the country, and discuss the proposal and methodology with congressional committees of jurisdiction. SBA must be committed to developing measured increases to the size standards that do not reward large, billion-dollar companies but instead helps our small businesses survive, grow, and thrive."

The lawmakers highlighted the following points in their letter:

• Under the Trump SBA's new size standards, the highest receipts-based standard would exceed $1 billion in annual revenue-more than 20 times the current $47 million maximum-and the highest employee-based standard would reach 3,600 employees-more than twice the current 1,500 employee maximum.
• • Specific increases include an increase in size of nearly 492% for banks, 1,500% for law firms, and more than 2,051% for private equity firms.
• Of the 114,000 businesses that would be newly classified as small, more than 37,000 of these businesses have collectively won more than 100,000 federal contracts worth approximately $71 billion in Fiscal Year 2025 alone without a small business designation.
• • If SBA included the awards won by these 37,000 businesses in its Fiscal Year 2025 analysis, small business contracts would have accounted for 38% of all federal contracts, instead of the 27% that SBA announced this summer.

The letter was co-signed by Senators Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Christopher Coons (D-Dela.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Mark Warner (D-Va.), and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.).

Ranking Member Markey is fighting to protect small businesses in Massachusetts and across the country from the Trump SBA's harmful policies that put big businesses and billionaires over American small businesses, workers, and families.

• In August, Ranking Member Markey slammed the Trump SBA's proposal to overhaul its small business size standards to benefit big businesses over small businesses.
• In July, Ranking Member Markey and House Small Business Committee Ranking Member Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY-7) introduced a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to rescind the Trump administration's policy that bans green card holders from accessing essential Small Business Administration (SBA) loans to start and grow their businesses.
• Also in July, Ranking Member Markey and Senator Hirono submitted a comment letter to the Small Business Administration (SBA) opposing a proposed rule change by Trump's SBA to the 8(a) Business Development Program that would harm underserved small business owners and entrepreneurs.
• In June, Ranking Member Markey released a new report highlighting Trump's drastic reduction in federal contracting dollars awarded to American small businesses.

Permalink: https://www.sbc.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2026/9/trump-sba-to-extend-comment-period-after-ranking-member-markey-leads-effort-to-rescind-sba-policy-that-reclassifies-billion-dollar-businesses-as-small-businesses