WASHINGTON, Jan. 28, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced the suspension of 1,091 firms from the 8(a) Business Development Program – representing about 25% of all firms registered to participate in the federal government contracting program. The suspension comes after the firms failed to meet the agency’s January 19th deadline to submit three years’ worth of financial documents. In December, the SBA ordered all 4,300 firms to submit basic documentation to prove their legitimacy as part of the Trump SBA’s longstanding effort to root out small business contracting abuse by pass-through and shell companies that proliferated across the program during the Biden Administration.
Of the 1,091 suspended firms, about half have received some form of payment for contracted work with the federal government since 2021. Collectively, they have received payments of over $5 billion in the last four years.
"The 8(a) Program was abused during the Biden Administration to benefit favored minority groups at the expense of every other legitimate small business owner in America, including white Americans,” said SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler. “The Trump Administration has acted from Day One to dismantle the discriminatory agenda that put white small business owners at a disadvantage, and to crack down on the fraud and corruption that proliferates within DEI programs. Today, we are suspending over 1,000 8(a) firms who have refused to provide basic documents that every legitimate business should have on-hand. As we continue to eliminate bad actors from this program, we also look forward to introducing robust reforms in the coming weeks to bring total integrity back to federal contracting.”
Since January of last year, the Trump SBA has worked to end discrimination and crack down on fraud within the 8(a) Program for “socially and economically disadvantaged” small businesses, which dramatically expanded under the Biden Administration as a vehicle for DEI favoritism in the federal contracting marketplace. While the Biden Administration accepted over 2,200 new 8(a) firms into the Program over its four-year term, the Trump SBA accepted just 65 last year.
On Day One, the agency reduced the “Small Disadvantaged Business” contracting goal for the federal government from 15% to its statutory 5%. The Trump SBA also ended the practice of accepting firms into the 8(a) Program based solely on unsubstantiated claims and Biden-era narratives of racial discrimination. As the agency reiterated last week, it does not deny applicants admission to the 8(a) Program simply because they are white – and will not consider any applicant to be “socially disadvantaged” simply because they are a member of a minority group.
In addition to the SBA’s work to end unlawful discrimination within the 8(a) Program, the agency has also taken unprecedented action to crack down on fraud and abuse. In 2025, the Trump SBA launched the first audit of the 8(a) Program in its nearly 50-year history and issued numerous suspensions.
The Trump SBA has taken the following actions to scale back the 8(a) Program and crack down on widespread fraud and abuse:
- In February 2025, on the first day of Administrator Loeffler’s term, the Trump SBA cut the Small Disadvantaged Business contracting goal back to its statutory 5% and ended the practice of approving firms based solely on unsubstantiated claims of racial discrimination.
- In June 2025, SBA launched the first-ever audit of the 8(a) Program in its nearly 50-year history – initiating an investigation into all high-dollar and limited-competition contracts going back over a period of fifteen years.
- In July 2025, the agency rescinded the independent 8(a) contracting authority of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) after a DOJ investigation uncovered a $550 million bribery scheme involving several 8(a) contractors.
- That same month, SBA issued a letter of warning to all federal contracting officers, outlining the penalties for failing to report suspected fraud, waste, and abuse within the 8(a) Program.
- In October 2025, SBA suspended numerous 8(a) contractors following allegations of fraud involving more than $253 million in previously issued contract awards.
- In November 2025, SBA cleared the Biden-era backlog of 2,700 Veteran Small Business Certification (VetCert) applications, which accumulated after the prior Administration diverted all resources away from VetCert to increase certification approvals for the 8(a) Program.
- In December 2025, SBA ordered all 4,300 8(a) contractors to produce three years' worth of financial documents for review by the agency in the effort to root out pass-through abuse and fraud by shell companies.
- In January 2026, SBA suspended over 1,000 contractors from participation in the 8(a) Program after they failed to submit the documents SBA requested in December.
- Additionally, the U.S. Department of War (DOW) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury have also each launched their own independent audits of the 8(a) Program.
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About the 8(a) Business Development Program
The SBA certifies small businesses considered to be socially and economically disadvantaged under its nine-year 8(a) Business Development Program. The 8(a) program helps these firms develop and grow their businesses through one-to-one counseling, training workshops and management and technical guidance. It also provides access to government contracting opportunities, allowing them to become solid competitors in the federal marketplace.
About the U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of entrepreneurship. As the leading voice for small businesses within the federal government, the SBA empowers job creators with the resources and support they need to start, grow, and expand their businesses or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.
SBA HQ Press Team U.S. Small Business Administration press_office@sba.gov
