Pandemic Darlings The pandemic economy, in original documents
Home Profiles Kelly Loeffler

Profiles · Officials · SBA

ProfilePerson

Kelly Loeffler

Official · SBA

PPP · EIDL
Type
Person
Role
Official · SBA
Programs
PPP, EIDL
Updated

The profile

SBA Administrator since Feb. 20, 2025, and, as a 2020 senator, a vote for the CARES Act; under her the SBA announced the suspension of 870,000 PPP and EIDL borrowers in September 2026, after state rounds that began with Minnesota and California.

  • Pandemic-program role: Retrospective. As 2020 U.S. Senator she voted for the CARES Act (which created PPP/EIDL/SVOG); as the 28th SBA Administrator (sworn in Feb. 20, 2025) SBA has announced suspensions of PPP and EIDL borrowers, first state by state from Minnesota and California and then 870,000 nationwide in September 2026. She did not administer the relief programs while they were being disbursed in 2020–2021.
  • Institution · office: SBA · Administrator (head of agency) · Type: political
  • Tenure (relief-relevant): SBA Administrator, Feb. 20, 2025 – present. (Earlier: U.S. Senator from Georgia, Jan. 6, 2020 – Jan. 20, 2021.)

In the archive

The job (role mechanics)

  • Level / appointment: PAS (Presidential appointment, Senate-confirmed): SBA Administrator. Confirmed 52–46 on Feb. 19, 2025; sworn in Feb. 20, 2025 (28th Administrator).
  • Reports to: The President (Cabinet-rank agency head); the second Trump administration.
  • Core responsibility: Head of the agency. SBA releases issued during her tenure announce the borrower suspensions, from the Minnesota and California rounds to the 870,000 of September 2026, and the March 21, 2025 agency-wide reorganization.
  • Expectations / mandate: Administer the Small Business Act and SBA's programs. Her Feb. 24, 2025 memo to staff lists her priorities for the agency.
  • Tenure norm: Serves at the pleasure of the President (political). Her actual tenure: sworn in Feb. 20, 2025 – present (as of September 2026).

Who they are

Kelly Loeffler (born Nov. 27, 1970, Bloomington, Illinois) became the 28th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration in February 2025. She was appointed as a Republican to the U.S. Senate from Georgia to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Johnny Isakson, served from January 6, 2020, to January 20, 2021, and was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the remainder of the term. Her SBA bio describes a 25-year career in financial services and technology, including as senior vice president of investor relations, chief communications officer and chief marketing officer at Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), and as founding CEO and first employee of Bakkt in 2018. The Senate biographical record lists her as owner of the Atlanta Dream professional women's basketball team. Her SBA bio notes she is "the only CFA® charterholder to ever serve in Congress."

Education

  • B.S., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1992. (Her SBA bio phrases it as a "bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois College of Commerce.")
  • M.B.A., DePaul University, Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, 1999.
  • Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder.

Career before the pandemic

  • Senior vice president of investor relations, chief communications officer and chief marketing officer at Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), and a member of its executive leadership team; her SBA bio says she contributed to more than a dozen transactions, including ICE's acquisition of the NYSE.
  • In 2018, founding CEO and first employee of Bakkt, which her SBA bio describes as "a fintech startup formed to bring institutional infrastructure to the crypto asset class."
  • Owner of the Atlanta Dream professional women's basketball team (Senate biographical record); her SBA bio calls her a "decade-long WNBA team owner."
  • Appointed to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Johnny Isakson; her service began Jan. 6, 2020.

Role in the pandemic relief programs

As Senator (2020). Loeffler was a sitting senator when the CARES Act (H.R. 748) passed the Senate 96–0 on March 25, 2020 (Senate Vote #80); she is among the 96 yeas (the four not voting were Thune, Paul, Romney, and Lee). The act created the Paycheck Protection Program, expanded EIDL, and seeded later relief like SVOG.

As SBA Administrator (2025–). SBA releases during her tenure announce borrower suspensions by state:

  • Minnesota: SBA's Feb. 6, 2026 release says the agency "suspended 6,900 borrowers associated with 7,900 potentially fraudulent PPP and EIDL loans worth approximately $400 million."
  • California (Feb. 6, 2026): suspended 111,620 California borrowers who had received 118,489 PPP/EIDL loans worth more than $8.6 billion.
  • The same release says the agency "recently partnered with Palantir to expand the nationwide investigation into PPP and EIDL abuse."
  • Nationwide (Sept. 14, 2026): at an event in Kansas City, Missouri, Loeffler announced that SBA had suspended 870,000 borrowers connected to an estimated $39 billion in suspected fraudulent PPP and EIDL activity. SBA and its inspector general announced Operation No Doze the same day. Under it, SBA will send final 30-day demand letters to suspected fraudulent borrowers, "starting with approximately 8,000 in Kansas and Missouri" (SBA News Release 26-91, September 14, 2026). The Justice Department’s release the same day counted, for June 12 to September 1, felony charges against nearly 80 defendants (approximately $100 million in intended loss), approximately 43 guilty pleas (approximately $44 million) and approximately 40 sentencings (nearly $100 million): over 160 defendants and approximately $245 million in intended loss in all (DOJ release 26-1052, September 14, 2026).
  • IRS referral (Sept. 23, 2026): SBA and the IRS said SBA had referred more than $200 billion in suspected PPP and COVID EIDL fraud to the IRS earlier in the year; the release attributes that figure to the SBA inspector general's June 2023 estimate. The IRS compared the tax information borrowers gave SBA with what was reported to the IRS. The comparison "identified discrepancies associated with approximately $100 billion in loans." Loeffler's statement in the release calls it "approximately $100 billion in suspected tax fraud" (SBA News Release 26-95, September 23, 2026).

See also: SBA borrower suspensions, 2025–2026, the dated event log of each suspension round, the Treasury referral and the demand letters.

Documents written or signed

Career after / where they are now

Loeffler is the sitting SBA Administrator (as of September 2026). After her Senate defeat and before SBA, she founded Greater Georgia Action (an election-integrity/voter-outreach nonprofit) and RallyRight (a conservative tech startup), and served on several corporate and philanthropic boards, according to her SBA bio. Her Feb. 20, 2025 statement on being sworn in describes "a focus on Main Street, Made in America, and accountability."

Documents on this site

Original source documents and archived copies

  • William J. ("Bill") Briggs — SBA Deputy Administrator under Loeffler since July 2025.
  • Rafaela Monchek — SBA Deputy Associate Administrator, ODRR, under Administrator Loeffler as of March 2025.
  • Everett M. Woodel Jr. — Acting SBA Administrator until Loeffler's confirmation in February 2025.

Sources (first-party)

Back to top