President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he will nominate former Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., to lead the Small Business Administration in his second term.
“I am thrilled to nominate business leader and former U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler, from 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 create opportunities for our small businesses to grow, to innovate and prosper.”
Trump announced last month that Loeffler would become co-chairman of 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 the runoff election to Democrat Raphael Warnock.
After the 2020 election, when Trump advanced his claims of widespread voter fraud, Loeffler repeatedly refused to acknowledge that he had lost the presidential election. NBC News reported last year that a special grand jury in Georgia, which initially investigated Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results, 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 mentioned other picks for his future Cabinet, which also expressed doubts about his loss in the 2020 election, including Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., his pick for ambassador to the U.N.; Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., elected secretary of state; and former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, selected for attorney general.
Loeffler is the founder of the company RallyRight, which is described as “a suite of technology products designed to provide conservatives with the necessary tools to win at every level.” She also sits on the board of the PublicSquare application, which is described as the “largest marketplace and payments ecosystem protecting life, family and liberty.” She previously owned a 49% stake in the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream, which was sold in 2021.
The small business manager is subject to Senate confirmation.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
