NEWS | NSBA Endorses SBA Office of Advocacy Chief Counsel Cabinet Nominee Casey Mulligan

NSBA urges the Senate to advance and confirm Dr. Mulligan's cabinet nomination to support Small Business and advocacy for America's most important economic community.

UPDATE, JULY 30, 2025 | On July 29th, Senate Majority Leader John Thune filed cloture on the nomination of Dr. Casey Mulligan to be the Chief Counsel for Advocacy. By this filing, according to usual procedural timing, a cloture vote to end debate beyond a maximum of two additional hours for consideration is expected on or around Thursday, July 31. Per procedural rules, following the cloture vote, the nomination motion will be considered “ripened,” with only a maximum of two hours of additional debate or procedural business permitted before a vote on the nomination.

NSBA is heartened to see this latest action and will continue to push to strengthen the Office of Advocacy. 

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UPDATE, MARCH 11 | This week, the Senate will hold a hearing on Dr. Casey Mulligan ahead of final committee approval and full passage to be confirmed as Chief Counsel for Advocacy at the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Follow NSBA as we continue tracking the progress of this important nomination for Small Business.

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In early March, NSBA sent a letter to Senate leaders expressing strong support for the nomination of Dr. Casey Mulligan, to be Chief Counsel for Advocacy at the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Small companies represent more than 99 percent of all businesses in the United States, and NSBA's small-business members and wider community collectively employ nearly half of the nation’s workforce.

RELATED | NSBA Small-Business Community Ratifies Priority Issues for 119th Congress

However, despite these figures, small businesses are uniquely vulnerable to shifting regulatory burdens and are much more likely to bear the brunt of excessive government regulation. For years, the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), which clearly outlines regulatory agencies’ duties in accounting for impacts of their actions on small entities, has gone all but ignored.

Agencies have bypassed the process, and small businesses have paid the price.

Exacerbating the problem is the fact that the sole independent office in the Federal Government tasked with engaging with agencies as a part of the RFA has gone without a confirmed leader for nearly a decade. Small companies need, and deserve, a fully staffed Office of Advocacy to serve as their watchdog in the Federal regulatory process.

NSBA was pleased that President Trump made a historically early nomination of Dr. Mulligan to lead the Office, signaling the importance of the role and the Office itself.

After much consideration, and productive and engaging conversations with the nominee, NSBA believes Dr. Mulligan is the ideal candidate to lead the Office of Advocacy. He brings a unique—and highly beneficial—combination of academic expertise and technical understanding of government to the role. We strongly urge you to advance his nomination out of Committee, and confirm him before the full Senate.

Read our full letter here.