WASHINGTON — The Senate has confirmed former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler to head the national agency meant to help cultivate and grow small businesses.
Loeffler was confirmed as administrator of the Small Business Administration on a vote of 52-46 with support from just one Democrat: Nevada’s Jacky Rosen. Georgia Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, both Democrats, voted against confirming Loeffler.
Loeffler watched the vote unfold from the Capitol and posted a statement on social media shortly afterward saying it was a “huge honor” to be confirmed.
She also wrote that she was grateful to President Donald Trump “for the trust he’s placed in me to help advance his America First agenda and unleash a new era of growth, innovation, and prosperity for small business and all Americans.”
But it is that close relationship with Trump that led Democrats to oppose Loeffler’s nomination. Ossoff in a statement said he preferred someone less political in the role.
“After carefully reviewing former Sen. Loeffler’s background and qualifications for the job, I believe Georgia’s small businesses would be best served by a nonpartisan, apolitical SBA administrator,” he said. “I wish former Sen. Loeffler well and will continue my work in the Senate to support Georgia’s small businesses.”
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
Warnock’s office said he worried that Loeffler is the wrong person for the job amid efforts by Trump to reduce the size or eliminate certain federal agencies.
“The Senator will not support any cabinet nominee who will hurt Georgia small businesses by allowing the Trump Administration to dismantle programs that help small businesses hire Georgia workers or recover after natural disasters,” the Warnock statement said.
Raised on a farm in rural Illinois, Loeffler was a standout basketball player who later rose to become a senior executive at Intercontinental Exchange, the company that operates the New York Stock Exchange. It was there she met her husband, billionaire Jeff Sprecher.
Gov. Brian Kemp appointed Loeffler to the Senate in 2019 after Sen. Johnny Isakson stepped down midterm because of health issues. Loeffler was not then-President Donald Trump’s first choice for the seat, but she won his support ahead of the January 2021 election runoff against Warnock, who ultimately won the seat.
Loeffler also supported Trump’s efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election that he lost to Joe Biden. But after Trump supporters rioted inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Loeffler announced she would no longer challenge Georgia’s electoral votes for Biden.
Still, Trump and Loeffler remained allies. She and Sprecher spent heavily to support Trump’s successful 2024 campaign that returned him to the White House.
Trump later made Loeffler one of the co-chairs of his inaugural committee.
She could be sworn in as soon as today and immediately start the job.
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