Trump Administration’s FY2027 Small Business Administration (SBA) Budget Request — IN12694 (May 27, 2026)

Summary

This is a Congressional Research Service Insight, IN12694, dated May 27, 2026, by Anthony A. Cilluffo and Adam G. Levin, on the Trump Administration's FY2027 budget request for the SBA. It reports a request of $329.0 million in new discretionary budget authority, a 74.7% decrease from the $1.3 billion Congress provided in FY2026. It lists proposed decreases including $21.4 million for entrepreneurial development programs, compared with $330.0 million in FY2026, and $260.2 million for salaries and expenses, compared with $323.1 million. It describes a legislative proposal to let SBA charge lenders a fee to offset the cost of administering its loan guarantee programs. It notes an increase for the Office of Advocacy from $10.1 million to $14.1 million.

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                                                                                                 INSIGHTi



Trump Administration’s FY2027 Small
Business Administration (SBA) Budget
Request

May 27, 2026

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) operates a range of programs to support small businesses.
These include loan guarantee and venture capital programs to enhance small business access to capital;
contracting programs to increase small business opportunities in federal contracting; direct loan programs
for individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations to assist their recovery from natural disasters; and
management and technical assistance training programs to assist small business formation and expansion.
The Trump Administration requested $329.0 million in new discretionary budget authority for the SBA
for FY2027. This would represent a 74.7% decrease from the $1.3 billion in appropriations that Congress
provided the SBA in FY2026. In nominal terms (not adjusted for inflation), the Administration’s FY2027
request would be the lowest amount of SBA funding since at least FY2000. (See Figure 1 for recent
funding data.) In announcing the proposed cuts and eliminations, the Trump Administration stated that its
budget request “eliminates a number of SBA programs that waste taxpayer dollars on failed business
counseling and training programs.”
The proposed decreases are concentrated in several accounts and activities, including:
    •   SBA’s entrepreneurial development programs, which provide management and technical
        assistance to small businesses ($21.4 million requested for FY2027, compared with
        $330.0 million in appropriations for FY2026);
    •   the administrative costs for SBA’s business loan program (no money requested for
        FY2027 due to a proposed legislative change that would offset these costs, compared
        with $161.0 million in appropriations for FY2026);
    •   SBA’s salaries and expenses account, which pays for agency-wide services, SBA regional
        and district offices, and most daily agency operations ($260.2 million requested for
        FY2027, compared with $323.1 million in appropriations for FY2026);
    •   congressionally-directed spending (no money requested for FY2027, compared with
        $106.9 million in appropriations for FY2026); and
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CRS INSIGHT
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    •    disaster loan program funding ($143.0 million requested for FY2027, compared with
         $282.0 million in appropriations for FY2026).
The FY2027 budget request for the SBA Office of Inspector General also included a reduction, from
$37.0 million in FY2026 to $33.3 million in FY2027. The budget request included an increase for the
SBA Office of Advocacy, from $10.1 million in FY2026 to $14.1 million in FY2027.

Figure 1. SBA Appropriations, FY2022-FY2026, and FY2027 Administration Budget Request
                                              In millions of nominal dollars




    Source: CRS analysis of appropriations acts and explanatory statements of various appropriations acts and SBA, FY 2027
    Congressional Budget Justification; FY 2025 Annual Performance Plan.
    Notes: Shift in color denotes FY2027 Trump Administration SBA budget request. SBA received disaster assistance
    supplemental appropriations in FY2022, FY2023, and FY2025.


Details of Selected FY2027 Budget Request Decreases
Entrepreneurial Development
To support small business development, SBA awards grants to third-party “resource partners” to provide
managerial and technical assistance training to small businesses. These programs, which include the
flagship Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) program, are collectively referred to as SBA’s
entrepreneurial development (ED) programs. Congress has generally provided funding for ED programs
through annual appropriations acts.
The Trump Administration’s FY2027 budget request proposes zero funding for nearly all of SBA’s 16 ED
programs, including the SBDC program. The request proposed $21.4 million total for ED programs, all of
which would fund SBA’s veterans outreach program. As aforementioned, in FY2026, Congress provided
$330 million for ED programs, including:
    •    $150 million for the SBDC program;
    •    $41 million for technical assistance under the Microloan access to capital program;
Congressional Research Service                                                                           3




    •    $27 million for Women’s Business Centers targeting assistance to women-owned small
         businesses; and
    •    $20 million for the State Trade Expansion Program providing assistance to exporting
         small businesses.
The Administration’s FY2027 request did not include funding for these programs.

Business Loan Program
The Administration’s FY2027 budget request includes a legislative proposal to allow SBA to charge
lenders participating in SBA’s loan guarantee programs (including the 7(a), 504, and Small Business
Investment Company programs) a fee to offset SBA’s cost of administering those programs. Under
current law, SBA charges fees to offset the cost of the loan guarantees (which is the expected cost of SBA
purchasing defaulted loans) but not loan administration. SBA’s administrative costs are mostly covered by
annual appropriations ($158.0 million in FY2026).
For FY2027, SBA requested—contingent upon the enactment of authorizing legislation—to charge
program participants a fee to cover SBA’s administrative costs. This fee would reduce annual
appropriations provided for the program dollar-for-dollar. If enacted, this fee would move these programs
towards a funding model similar to the Export-Import Bank, where participants fund the agency’s
administrative costs.

Salaries and Expenses
The SBA’s salaries and expenses account funds the following:
    •    office operating budgets, which are used by program and administrative offices for daily
         operations including travel, supplies, and contracted services;
    •    SBA’s nationwide network of regional and district offices;
    •    agency-wide costs, such as rent and telecommunications, which are managed centrally;
    •    employee compensation and benefits, which are also managed centrally; and
    •    reimbursable expenses for programs for which the SBA receives reimbursable budget
         authority from other federal government agencies.
As noted, the Trump Administration’s FY2027 budget request proposed $260.2 million for SBA salaries
and expenses. This would be a decrease from $323.1 million in appropriations for salaries and expenses in
FY2026 and, in nominal terms, would be the lowest amount of funding for salaries and expenses since
FY2015.


Considerations for Congress
As Congress considers FY2027 funding for the Small Business Administration, it faces the question of
whether to incorporate cuts proposed by the Trump Administration into an appropriations bill. The
proposed funding reductions have drawn critique from some small business advocacy groups and some
Members of Congress. Congress also debated SBA funding in FY2026. The Trump Administration’s
FY2026 budget request for SBA also proposed funding decreases, particularly for salaries and expenses (a
22.6% decrease from FY2025 appropriations) and ED programs (a 52.7% decrease from FY2025
appropriations, with only the SBDC program proposed to receive funding of all ED programs). As
mentioned, in FY2026 Congress ultimately provided appropriations above these requested amounts,
including $323.1 million for salaries and expenses and $330 million for ED programs.
Congressional Research Service                                                                                        4




Author Information

Anthony A. Cilluffo                                        Adam G. Levin
Analyst in Public Finance                                  Analyst in Economic Development Policy




Disclaimer
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