A group of dozens of House Republicans led by New York Rep. Claudia Tenney are calling on the House Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government to rescind tens of millions of dollars in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to Planned Parenthood (PPFA), the Daily Caller has learned.
The Republican lawmakers allege that the Small Business Administration (SBA) violated the guidelines of President Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief package by granting $65,395,339 in PPP loans to 34 Planned Parenthood Federation of America affiliates in its Fiscal Year 2023 budget, according to a letter first obtained by the Daily Caller.
(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers
Planned Parenthood affiliates include various state and local non-profit organizations, offices and clinics across the country. According to Tenney, PPFA affiliates are under the control of the national organization, meaning they should be ineligible for the PPP loan forgiveness.
Tenney, along with 68 additional co-signers, points to the fact that PPP loans were only to be granted and forgiven for entities with fewer than 500 employees across all affiliated entities, a qualifier which Planned Parenthood does not meet. However, more than $81 million in PPP loans were doled out to 46 Planned Parenthood affiliates nationwide, and 34 of those affiliates have had their loans forgiven, according to the letter.
The lawmakers allege that the SBA promised to correct the mistake but has not done so, requiring Congress to step in and resolve the issue. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: SBA Hid Comms With Planned Parenthood Amid GOP Criticism Over PPP Loans)
“Congress writes the laws and federal agencies like the SBA are bound to abide by them. I am dismayed by the SBA’s lack of transparency and accountability for knowingly violating the law,” Rep. Tenney told the Daily Caller. “As a result, I am urging my colleagues on the Appropriations Committee to withhold funding from the SBA’s discretionary executive account for fiscal year 2023 equal to the amount of loans illegally forgiven for Planned Parenthood affiliates. The American people strongly oppose taxpayer-funded abortions, and they deserve better than this.”
“Following PPP guidelines, entities that applied for and were deemed eligible received loans. Entities that were deemed eligible for PPP forgiveness under the PPP guidelines were forgiven those loans,” a senior SBA official told the Daily Caller.
Republican members of Congress took numerous steps to attempt to stop Planned Parenthood from receiving COVID-19 relief funds. However, the Biden administration and Congressional Democrats thwarted many of those efforts.
PPFA did not responded to a request for comment by the Daily Caller.