President Trump ordered the firings of a few hundred probationary employees at the Small Business Administration earlier this month, as part of his effort to reduce the size of the overall federal workforce. A few hundred people will probably not have a significant impact at the agency, but it does invite a question: Is it not time to eliminate the SBA altogether?

It's not as if this question hasn’t been raised before. In 1986, President Reagan proposed abolishing SBA in two separate budget proposals but failed. In 2012, President Barack Obama attempted to "reorganize" the agency, effectively placing it under the Department of Commerce. That didn't get far, either.

Politicians hate to take positions that draw the ire of the enormous voting block of small-business owners. But I think it's time to reconsider. As a small-business owner myself who has worked with and reported closely on countless small businesses over the past 25 years, I have come to the conclusion that the SBA is a largely failed experiment.

According to the agency, in fiscal 2024, the SBA provided "billions of dollars of loans" to “a record 100,000” individuals and small businesses in disaster areas, and at least $37.7 billion in 7(a) loans, 504 loans and microloans to small businesses that otherwise would not have been able to receive financing from traditional banks. This is important work that should continue.

Less important are........

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