Trump nominates former senator Kelly Loeffler for small business administrator

On By Littum

President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he will nominate former Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., to lead the Small Business Administration for his second term.

“I am very pleased to nominate business leader and former U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler, of the Great State of Georgia, to serve as Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA),” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump called Loeffler “a tremendous fighter in the U.S. Senate during the first Trump administration” and said she would “bring her experience in business and Washington to reduce red tape and unlock opportunities for our small businesses to grow, innovate and thrive.”

Trump announced last month that Loeffler would co-chair the organization planning his inauguration.

Loeffler, 53, represented Georgia in the Senate for just over a year in 2020 and 2021, filling the seat left by the late Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., when he resigned for health reasons. She ran in the 2020 special election for the seat, but lost in a runoff to Democrat Raphael Warnock.

After the 2020 election, when Trump made his allegations of widespread voter fraud, Loeffler repeatedly refused to acknowledge that he had lost the presidency. NBC News reported last year that a special Georgia grand jury that initially investigated Trump’s efforts to overturn the election recommended indicting more than three dozen people, including 21 who were not charged in the Fulton County case. Loeffler was among those the panel recommended, but she was ultimately not charged.

Trump has named other picks for his future cabinet who also expressed doubts about his loss in the 2020 election, including Rep. Elise Stefanik, RN.Y., his pick for ambassador to the United Nations; Late. Marco Rubio, R-Fla.elected Secretary of State; and former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, elected attorney general.

Loeffler is the founder of the company RallyRight, which is described as “a suite of technology products designed to give conservatives the tools they need to win at every level.” She is also on the board of the PublicSquare application, which is described as “the largest marketplace and payments ecosystem that protects life, family and freedom.” She previously owned a 49% stake in the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream, which was sold in 2021.

The Administrator of Small Business is subject to Senate confirmation.