EXCLUSIVE: Trump admin takes action after massive fraud uncovered at agency Dems tried to protect from DOGE
'We owe it to America’s small businesses to get this right,' said SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler.
By Peter Pinedo , Andrew Mark Miller Fox News
Published June 26, 2025 6:54pm EDT
Following the uncovering of a massive bribery scandal at USAID, the Small Business Administration (SBA) is ordering a full audit of all government contracting officers who have exercised grant-awarding authority under the agency’s business development program over the last 15 years.
In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said the scale of the USAID fraud is a "damning reflection of systemic failures in oversight and accountability." She further said that the fraud "was not an isolated incident."
In response, Loeffler instructed Associate Administrator Tre Pennie, who oversees government contracts awarded by SBA, to "act decisively" to crack down on any potential similar abuses in the agency.
Loeffler instructed Pennie to immediately initiate a full-scale audit of the agency’s awarding officers back to 2010.
"The role of federal government contracting officers is not ceremonial or self-dealing; rather, it is a position of immense authority and fiduciary responsibility," said Loeffler. "The contracting process must be transparent and built on merit, not personal gain."
This comes after USAID, an agency tasked with administering civilian foreign aid, was essentially dismantled by the DOGE waste, fraud and abuse cuts made under Elon Musk and President Donald Trump. The move was met with massive protests from Democrats who claimed that cutting USAID would impoverish and harm recipients across the globe.
Despite claims of how much good the agency was doing, it was recently discovered that an influential contracting officer at USAID named Roderick Watson was able to carry out a massive, long-term bribery scheme dating all the way back to 2013.
Watson, 57, pleaded guilty to "bribery of a public official," according to a DOJ press release.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/exclusive-trump-admin-takes-action-after-massive-fraud-uncovered-agency-dems-tried-protect-from-doge
