ICYMI, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has suspended more than 1,000 small business contractors in the 8(a) Business Development Program, designed to provide contracting opportunities and training to small business owners that are socially and economically disadvantaged.
On December 5th, SBA announced that every 8(a) firm would be required to provide detailed financial information to the agency with limited guidance. The SBA initially provided just 31 days to comply with their request, over the holidays, before extending the deadline to January 19th.
On Monday, Defense News said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Jan. 16 "lambasted a decades-old contracting program that provides business opportunities for small and disadvantaged businesses, calling it a breeding ground for fraud and disparaging it as a “DEI” effort."
"In a video posted on social media, Hegseth described the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development Program in harsh terms, connecting it with diversity programs he has strongly criticized and ordering a strict review."
“We’re actually taking a sledgehammer to the oldest DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] program in the federal government,” Hegseth said. “A program few people outside of Washington have ever heard of, that I hadn’t heard of. It’s called the 8(a) program.”
