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Regulatory Rundown: Feb. 17 - March 3
Loeffler’s “day one” memo. On Feb. 24, newly sworn-in Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator Kelly Loeffler issued a memo outlining her top priorities for the agency. In the memo, Loeffler pledged to take certain actions including (but not limited to):
Creating a “strike force” to cut regulation by working alongside the Chief Counsel for the SBA Office of Advocacy “to cut past and future regulations across the board and partner with all federal agencies” to ensure they are working to spur a successful small business ecosystem.
Transforming SBA’s Office of International Trade into the Office of Manufacturing and Trade to “focus on promoting economic independence, job creation, and fair trade practices.”
Evaluating workforce reduction measures, “including the overhaul of all advisory boards.”
The executive orders continue. The Trump White House has continued to issue executive orders (EOs) on issues including (but not limited to):
DOGE and “cost efficiency”: Signed on Feb. 26, this EO directs agencies to “immediately review all contracts and grants for waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Healthcare price transparency: Signed on Feb. 25, this EO directs the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services to take certain actions to “ensure hospitals and insurers disclose actual prices, not estimates.” The EO also directs these agencies to “take action to make prices comparable across hospitals and insurers, including prescription drug prices.”
Deregulation. Signed on Feb. 19, this EO directs agencies to “review all regulations subject to their jurisdiction and for consistency with law and Trump Administration policy, prioritizing rules that impose heavy costs.”
NSBA weighs in. On Feb. 17, NSBA submitted comments expressing support for an SBA proposed rule “to encourage faster payments to small business subcontractors and streamline the reporting process for prime contracts.” By requiring prime contractors to notify a contracting officer in writing when they fail to make full or timely payments to a subcontractor within 30 days past the payment due date, SBA’s proposed rule takes a critical step in the right direction in creating an environment of accountability that benefits small business subcontractors.
