Small Business Administration’s Continuity of Pandemic Program Oversight — IN12521 (March 6, 2025)
Summary
This is a Congressional Research Service Insight, IN12521, dated March 6, 2025, by R. Corinne Blackford, on continuity of oversight of SBA's pandemic relief programs. It states that SBA Inspector General Hannibal “Mike” Ware was among Inspectors General removed from their positions in January and that PRAC is scheduled to sunset on September 30, 2025. It lists SBA's pandemic programs, which it says have obligated over $950 billion, and cites the OIG's June 2023 report that the SBA may have disbursed over $200 billion in potentially fraudulent loans. It lists the SBA OIG's February 2024 audit and review priorities and says Congress may be interested in the appointment of a new SBA IG and in options to continue PRAC activities.
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“Small Business Administration’s Continuity of Pandemic Program Oversight — IN12521 (March 6, 2025).”
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INSIGHTi
Small Business Administration’s Continuity
of Pandemic Program Oversight
March 6, 2025
Since the implementation of COVID-19 pandemic relief programs, Congress has expressed interest in the
oversight of these programs. Oversight has been conducted by both the Small Business Administration’s
(SBA’s) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) as well as the Pandemic Response Accountability
Committee (PRAC). Congress created PRAC through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic
Security (CARES) Act (P.L. 116-136) to conduct and support oversight of the federal government’s
pandemic response. PRAC is scheduled to sunset on September 30, 2025.
Among Inspectors General removed from their positions in January was SBA Inspector General (IG)
Hannibal “Mike” Ware, sworn in May 24, 2018, following his confirmation by the U.S. Senate during the
first Trump Administration. IG Ware’s tenure coincided with the initial rollout of SBA’s pandemic relief
programs, which have obligated over $950 billion. For more information about the removal of IGs, see
CRS In Focus IF11546, Removal of Inspectors General: Rules, Practice, and Considerations for
Congress.
Congress may be interested in the continuity of pandemic relief program oversight in light of IG Ware’s
removal and the forthcoming sunset of PRAC.
SBA’s Pandemic Response
SBA’s implemented pandemic relief through various programs including
• the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which offered forgivable loans up to
$10 million;
• COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs), which offered an expanded version of
one of SBA’s existing disaster loan programs;
• Emergency EIDL Advances, which offered COVID EIDL applicants $1,000 per
employee, up to $10,000, for use while SBA processed EIDL applications, and which did
not require repayment;
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• Targeted EIDL Advances and Supplemental Targeted EIDL Advance, which offered
$10,000 and $5,000 payments, respectively, to COVID EIDL applicants in low-income
areas, and which did not require repayment;
• Section 1112 payments, which offered debt relief to small businesses that held pre-
pandemic SBA loans;
• the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program, which offered up to $10 million
for operators of live performance venues; and
• the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF), which offered restaurant and bar owners up to
$5 million per permanent physical location.
For further reading on the SBA’s pandemic programs, see CRS Report R47694, SBA as a Vehicle for
Crisis Relief: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Pandemic Relief Program Oversight
Since implementation, SBA’s OIG has focused substantial resources on the oversight of its pandemic
relief programs. According to the SBA OIG, SBA’s pandemic relief programs lacked fraud detection
systems. Specifically, the OIG reported in June 2023 that the SBA may have disbursed over $200 billion
in potentially fraudulent loans over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Government-wide pandemic program oversight has also been performed by PRAC. According to PRAC
data on pandemic program spending, the SBA is the top pandemic relief spending agency. A 2022 PRAC
report noted that the SBA distributed $343 billion of PPP loans in the first 14 days of the program, noting
that the speed of distribution put this money at risk of fraud.
According to 2021 congressional hearing testimony by Government Accountability Office representative
William Shear, “SBA moved quickly on these programs ... [and] initially put limited controls in place,
leaving [the] programs susceptible to program integrity issues, improper payments, and fraud.” SBA IG
Ware also testified that the SBA’s OIG found “rampant fraud” within the EIDL program.
Oversight related to pandemic programs has continued to be a significant part of the SBA’s OIG work.
The SBA OIG’s February 2024 ongoing and planned audit and review priorities included
• Eligibility and Forgiveness Reviews of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loans Made
to Borrowers with Treasury’s Do Not Pay Data Matches;
• SBA Guaranty Purchase Process for PPP Loans;
• Eligibility of PPP Loans Exceeding Maximum Size Standards;
• Risks Associated with PPP Loans Processed by Financial Technology (FinTech)
Companies;
• COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Applicants on the U.S. Treasury’s Do
Not Pay List;
• SBA’s Handling of RRF Awards with PPP Loans Flagged as Potentially Ineligible;
• SBA’s Actions to Address Forgiven PPP Loans Flagged as Potentially Ineligible; and
• SBA’s Ability to Service the COVID-19 EIDL Portfolio.
PRAC is set to sunset in September 2025, though the committee urged Congress to sustain PRAC’s data
analytics functions, the Pandemic Analytics Center of Excellence (PACE), to prevent the loss of “an entity
capable of proactively conducting cross-program, cross-agency analysis to help prevent improper
payments in high-risk programs.”
Congressional Research Service 3
Continuity of Pandemic Relief Program Oversight
Congress may be interested in the lessons from SBA’s experience with its pandemic relief programs, and
in particular, the continued work and capacity of the SBA’s OIG as PRAC sunsets. Congress may be
interested in the appointment of a new SBA IG, to ensure that it can effectively perform its oversight
duties. Additionally, Congress consider options for the continuation of PRAC or certain PRAC activities,
to help safeguard the integrity of pandemic relief program oversight.
Author Information
R. Corinne Blackford
Analyst in Small Business and Economic Development
Policy
Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff
to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of
Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of
information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role.
CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United
States. Any CRS Report may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However,
as a CRS Report may include copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the
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