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Judge blocks Trump from closing East Potomac Park golf course for now Trump asks Supreme Court to curb judges' power to void unlawful rules nationwide On tape: Richard Blumenthal says the Trump administration let $190 million in anti-human trafficking grants lapse On tape: Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican, on the House floor: the president never asked Congress before sending troops… Massie to force new House vote to end Trump's Iran war before he leaves in January Over 200 Democrats ask appeals court to strike down VA's abortion ban for veterans Kushner says U.S. is brokering Europe-Russia talks and planning next Ukraine round Blumenthal says Lutnick 'must go' over stalled Nvidia chip blacklist for Megaspeed NBC says Democrat Mary Peltola likely to beat Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska On tape: Hakeem Jeffries: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick could face Intel Committee subpoenas over Nvidia scandal Judge blocks Trump from closing East Potomac Park golf course for now Trump asks Supreme Court to curb judges' power to void unlawful rules nationwide On tape: Richard Blumenthal says the Trump administration let $190 million in anti-human trafficking grants lapse On tape: Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican, on the House floor: the president never asked Congress before sending troops… Massie to force new House vote to end Trump's Iran war before he leaves in January Over 200 Democrats ask appeals court to strike down VA's abortion ban for veterans Kushner says U.S. is brokering Europe-Russia talks and planning next Ukraine round Blumenthal says Lutnick 'must go' over stalled Nvidia chip blacklist for Megaspeed NBC says Democrat Mary Peltola likely to beat Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska On tape: Hakeem Jeffries: Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick could face Intel Committee subpoenas over Nvidia scandal
Kelly Loeffler
Photo: Small Business Administration, Public domain

The Administration · Cabinet-level officials

Kelly Loeffler

SBA Administrator

A former financial executive and appointed Georgia senator who lost her seat in 2021, now running the small-business lending agency with a focus on cutting staff and pursuing pandemic loan fraud.

Biography

Kelly Loeffler was born on November 27, 1970, in Bloomington, Illinois, and grew up on her family's corn and soybean farm. 1 She earned a marketing degree from the University of Illinois in 1992 and an M.B.A. from DePaul University in 1999. 1 2 In 2002 she joined Intercontinental Exchange, the company that owns the New York Stock Exchange, where she rose to head investor relations, communications and marketing. 1 2 12 She married the company's chief executive, Jeffrey Sprecher, in 2004. 1 In 2018 she became the first chief executive of Bakkt, a financial technology firm the exchange company created. 1 2

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp appointed Loeffler to a vacant U.S. Senate seat in December 2019, and she was sworn in on January 6, 2020. 1 She lost the seat to Democrat Raphael Warnock in a January 5, 2021 runoff, 51.0 percent to 49.0 percent. 1 She had also been a co-owner of the Atlanta Dream women's basketball team and sold her stake in February 2021 after players objected to her opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement. 1 After leaving the Senate she founded the political groups Greater Georgia Action and RallyRight, and she gave more than $4.9 million to Trump's 2024 re-election effort. 2 1

Trump announced her nomination to lead the Small Business Administration on December 4, 2024. 1 The Senate confirmed her 52-46 on February 19, 2025, and she was sworn in the next day as the 28th administrator. 3 1 2 Within weeks she said the agency would require lenders to confirm that loan applicants are not owned by people in the country illegally and would move six regional offices out of cities that do not cooperate with immigration enforcement. 5 In June 2025 she ordered an audit covering fifteen years of the 8(a) contracting program for disadvantaged firms after a federal bribery case. 6

In 2026 the agency doubled the combined cap on its two main loan programs to $10 million and, with the Pentagon, created a commission to steer capital to small defense suppliers. 7 10 In September it announced the suspension of 870,000 borrowers tied to an estimated $39 billion in suspected pandemic loan fraud, barring them from future agency programs, and said the Internal Revenue Service was examining tax discrepancies linked to about $100 billion in loans. 8 9 Loeffler remained in the post that month, appearing on CBS News as administrator from the Republican midterm convention in Dallas. 11

In the job

The acts and events that have defined the post so far, oldest first.

  1. Announced that the agency would require citizenship checks on loan applications and relocate regional offices out of Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York City and Seattle, cities the agency said do not cooperate with immigration enforcement. 5

  2. Ordered a full audit of the 8(a) Business Development Program going back fifteen years, after the Justice Department uncovered a bribery scheme that it said steered more than $550 million in contracts. 6

  3. The agency announced a rule letting borrowers combine its 7(a) and 504 loans up to $10 million, double the previous $5 million combined limit, effective July 4, 2026. 7

  4. With the Department of War, as the administration calls the Pentagon, set up a Smaller War Plants Commission to map and finance small defense manufacturers. 10

  5. Announced, with Vice President Vance and Attorney General Todd Blanche in Kansas City, the suspension of 870,000 borrowers linked to an estimated $39 billion in suspected pandemic loan fraud. 8

  6. The agency said the Internal Revenue Service had opened examinations after finding tax discrepancies tied to about $100 billion in pandemic loans the agency had referred. 9

Disputes, and their side

What critics, courts or investigators have said, and the answer given. An allegation is not a finding.

  1. Disclosures showed that Loeffler and her husband sold stock worth $1.25 million to $3.1 million in the three weeks after January 24, 2020, the day senators received a private briefing on the coronavirus. Watchdog groups filed complaints. The Justice Department closed its inquiry on May 26, 2020, and the Senate Ethics Committee dismissed the complaint on June 16, 2020, saying it found no evidence she broke the law. 12 1

    Their side: Loeffler said she and her husband followed the law, that outside investment advisers made the trades, and that she had no part in the decisions. 12

  2. The watchdog group Public Citizen filed a Hatch Act complaint over a notice the agency posted during the 2025 government shutdown, alleging it amounted to electioneering on official time, according to Wikipedia's summary of a report in The Hill. 1

    Their side: No public response found.

Career

  1. Early career at Toyota, then, after her M.B.A., at Citibank, William Blair & Company and the Crossroads Group
  2. Executive at Intercontinental Exchange, rising to senior vice president for investor relations and corporate communications
  3. Co-owner of the Atlanta Dream (WNBA)
  4. Founding chief executive of Bakkt
  5. U.S. Senator from Georgia (appointed)
  6. Founder of the political groups Greater Georgia Action and RallyRight; board member of PublicSquare from 2023
  7. Administrator of the Small Business Administration

Our reporting

We have not yet published a story that names Kelly Loeffler. When we do, it will appear here.

Sources for this file

  1. Wikipedia, Kelly Loeffler, Nov. 13, 2026
  2. U.S. Small Business Administration, Kelly Loeffler (official biography), Nov. 13, 2026
  3. U.S. Senate, Roll Call Vote 119th Congress - 1st Session, Vote 59: On the Nomination (Kelly Loeffler to be Administrator of the Small Business Administration), Feb. 19, 2025
  4. American Banker, Senate confirms Kelly Loeffler to lead SBA, Feb. 19, 2025
  5. U.S. Small Business Administration, Administrator Loeffler Announces SBA Reforms to Put American Citizens First, March 6, 2025
  6. U.S. Small Business Administration, Administrator Loeffler Orders Full-Scale Audit of 8(a) Contracting Program, June 27, 2025
  7. U.S. Small Business Administration, SBA Doubles Cumulative 7(a) and 504 Loan Limit to $10 Million, May 18, 2026
  8. U.S. Small Business Administration, SBA Announces Suspensions for 870,000 U.S. Borrowers Tied to $39 Billion In Suspected Pandemic Fraud, Sept. 14, 2026
  9. U.S. Small Business Administration, SBA Referral Leads IRS to Investigate Tax Liabilities Related To Potentially $100 Billion in COVID Loan Fraud, Sept. 23, 2026
  10. U.S. Small Business Administration, SBA and DoW Establish Smaller War Plants Commission in Historic Effort to Strengthen Defense Industrial Base Capacity, Aug. 25, 2026
  11. CBS News, Kelly Loeffler on GOP midterm convention, Sept. 9, 2026
  12. CNBC, Sen. Loeffler, NYSE owner CEO husband defend stock sales after her coronavirus briefing, March 20, 2020

File checked Nov. 13, 2026. Something wrong or out of date? Tell the desk.