Letter to The Honorable Isabella Casillas Guzman, Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration (May 16, 2024)

Summary

The House Committee on Small Business and the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship write to SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman that the committees are continuing to investigate SBA activities involving voter registration and political travel. The letter cites the SBA's March 19, 2024, announcement of a voter registration Memorandum of Understanding with the Michigan Department of State and an April 17, 2024, video recording. It says the Committees are troubled by the SBA's lack of transparency about the Administrator's trips. It requests, no later than May 30, 2024, calendars, travel itineraries, Hatch Act reimbursement documents and transcripts of remarks by SBA personnel on those trips. The signature block names Roger Williams, Chairman, and Joni K. Ernst, Ranking Member.

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Full text

                                              May 16, 2024

The Honorable Isabella Casillas Guzman
Administrator
U.S. Small Business Administration
409 3rd Street, SW
Washington, D.C. 20416

Dear Administrator Guzman:

         The House Committee on Small Business and the Senate Committee on Small Business
and Entrepreneurship (the Committees) are continuing to investigate the U.S. Small Business
Administration’s (SBA) activities involving voter registration and political travel. The
Committees’ attention was drawn to this matter after the SBA’s March 19, 2024, announcement
that it had entered into a new voter registration Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the
Michigan Department of State implementing President Biden’s March 2021 Executive Order on
Promoting Access to Voting (E.O. 14019).1

        On April 17, 2024, a video recording was made public with SBA Special Advisor Tyler
Robinson alleging that you are the most traveled member of the President’s cabinet and
participate in trips to indirectly campaign for the President. The House and Senate Committees
immediately began reviewing the SBA’s press releases to assess the accuracy of these
statements. A preliminary review of the releases appeared to corroborate details Mr. Robinson
alleged in the video. Specifically, these press releases indicated that you have traveled to critical
battleground states for the upcoming election, including Michigan, and invited Democrat
members of Congress on these trips nearly eight times more frequently than Republican
members. On April 24, 2024, the Senate Committee sent a letter requesting your calendar,
records of your travel, and White House communications.2 To date, you have failed to respond.

        On May 3, 2024, the SBA briefed the House Committee on matters relating to this
investigation. When asked about where the Committee can find information about these trips, the
SBA simply directed the Committee to the Administrator’s Twitter account. Further, when asked
about where small businesses can go on their website to find events with SBA officials, the SBA
failed to provide a clear answer. In addition, the Committees noticed an increase in similar trips
to battleground states by Deputy Administrator Dilawar Syed.

       The Committees are troubled by the SBA’s lack of transparency regarding where the
Administrator goes, who attends trips with her, and the purpose of these trips. The only apparent
reason for suspending these press releases is to obstruct the Committees’ investigations, and


1
  Jospeh R. Biden, Exec. Order 14019, Promoting Access to Voting, Mar. 7, 2021, 86 Fed. Reg. 13623; Press
Release, U.S. Small Bus. Admin., SBA Administrator Guzman Announces Agency’s First-Ever Voter Registration
Agreement with Michigan Department of State (Mar. 19, 2024).
2
  Press Release, Joni Ernst, Following Shocking Video, Ernst Demands Transparency at SBA (Apr. 24, 2024).
The Honorable Isabella Casillas Guzman
May 16, 2024
Page 2 of 3

evade accountability from American taxpayers, the people who fund these trips. Therefore, we
formally request the following documents as soon as possible but no later than May 30, 2024:

       1. The calendar for the following individuals from June 1, 2022, through December
          2024:
             a. Isabella Casillas Guzman
             b. Dilawar Syed
             c. Arthur Plews
             d. Jennifer Kim
             e. Victor Parker
             f. Destine Hicks
             g. Geri Sanchez Aglipay
             h. Laketa Henderson
             i. Julie Verratti (up until she departed SBA)
             j. Scott Harriford (up until he departed SBA)
             k. The SBA individual appointed as the Michigan National Voter Registration
                 Act of 1993 (NVRA).

       2. All travel itineraries for trips the following individuals have taken, and are currently
          scheduled to take in the future, including where, when, and with whom, from March
          1, 2024, through the end of the year:
              a. Isabella Casillas Guzman
              b. Dilawar Syed
              c. Arthur Plews
              d. Jennifer Kim
              e. Victor Parker
              f. Destine Hicks
              g. Geri Sanchez Aglipay
              h. Laketa Henderson
              i. Julie Verratti (up until she departed SBA)
              j. Scott Harriford (up until he departed SBA)
              k. The SBA individual appointed as the Michigan NVRA

       3. All trip summaries and/or related documents memorializing reimbursement for costs
          associated with political activities under the Hatch Act, including all reimbursement
          statements, for all trips encompassed in request 1 and 2 of this letter.

       4. All existing transcripts of remarks made by SBA personnel on trips encompassed in
          request 1 and 2 of this letter.
The Honorable Isabella Casillas Guzman
May 16, 2024
Page 3 of 3

        To schedule the delivery of responsive documents or ask any related follow-up questions,
please contact the House Committee Majority Staff at (202) 225-5821 or the Senate Committee
Minority Staff at (202) 224-5175. The House Committee on Small Business has broad authority
to investigate “problems of all types of small business” under House Rule X. The Senate
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship has broad authority to investigate “all
problems of American small business enterprises” under Rule XXV(1) of the Standing Rules of
the Senate. Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this inquiry.




______________________________                     ______________________________
Roger Williams                                     Joni K. Ernst
Chairman                                           Ranking Member
House Committee on Small Business                  Senate Committee on Small Business
                                                   and Entrepreneurship




cc:    The Honorable Nydia M. Velazquez, Ranking Member
       House Committee on Small Business

       The Honorable Jeanne Shaheen, Chair
       Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship


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