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Stop 8(a) Contracting Fraud Act
To prohibit the Small Business Administration from awarding sole source contracts until the Administration conducts a full audit of and submits to Congress a report on the business development program, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill would impose a moratorium on Small Business Administration sole source contracts under the 8(a) Business Development Program until the SBA completes an audit of the program and submits findings to Congress. The 8(a) program provides contracting opportunities to socially and economically disadvantaged small businesses. Contracting officers could request a waiver of the moratorium for national security purposes, which would require written justification and approval from the SBA Administrator or Deputy Administrator. The waiver authority cannot be delegated to lower-level officials.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Sen. Ernst, Joni [R-IA] (R-IA)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Joni Ernst’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $57,653
- CAPITAL GROUP $40,000
- SOROBAN CAPITAL $13,200
- CAPITAL GROUP COMPANIES $7,500
- GOOGLE $6,800
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Joni Ernst → · Outside spending →
Actions (3)
- Dec 10, 2025 Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Hearings held. · senate
- Nov 10, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. · senate
- Nov 10, 2025 Introduced in Senate
More bills on these subjects (8)
Other bills that carry the most legislative subjects in common with this one (topical discovery — distinct from the procedural related bills above).
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Committee action
What happened to this bill in committee — the meetings where it was considered and every recorded vote taken on it.
Meetings where this bill was on the agenda
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 10, 2025
Ms. Ernst introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
A BILL
To prohibit the Small Business Administration from awarding sole source contracts until the Administration conducts a full audit of and submits to Congress a report on the business development program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Stop 8(a) Contracting Fraud Act”.
SEC. 2. MORATORIUM ON SOLE SOURCE CONTRACTS.
(a) Definitions.—In this section—
(1) the terms “Administration” and “Administrator” mean the Small Business Administration and the Administrator thereof, respectively; and
(2) the term “Deputy Administrator” means the Deputy Administrator of the Administration.
(b) Moratorium.—The Administration may not award sole source contracts under section 8(a)(16) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)(16)) during the period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and ending on the date on which the Administration—
(1) completes the audit of the business development program under such section 8(a) ordered to be conducted by the Administrator on June 27, 2025; and
(2) submits to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives a report that includes the findings of the audit described in paragraph (1).
(c) Waiver.—
(1) In general.—If a contracting officer determines that it is in the interest of national security to conduct a sole source contract under section 8(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)), the contracting officer may seek a waiver of the moratorium under subparagraph (b).
(2) Submission of request.—
(A) In general.—
(i) Submission to head acquisition officer.—The contracting officer may submit a request for a waiver to the head acquisition officer (or equivalent) for the agency of the contracting officer.
(ii) Submission to administrator.— Following approval of a submission under clause
(i), the head acquisition officer (or equivalent) shall submit the request for a waiver to the Administrator or Deputy Administrator.
(B) Contents of request.—A request for a waiver submitted under subparagraph (A) shall include a justification explaining—
(i) the reason the use of the waiver authority is imperative for national security purposes; and
(ii) the reason the work cannot be performed by any other small business concern.
(C) Form of request and approval.—
(i) Request.—The justification required under subparagraph (B) shall be submitted in writing.
(ii) Approval.—The Administrator or Deputy Administrator may approve a request for a waiver.
(3) Nondelegation.—The waiver authority established under paragraph (1) may not be delegated. <all>
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