Not Even a Peep! Tim Scott Stays Silent as Trump Tramples His Treasured Minority Business Legacy
*Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott’s work with the Commerce Department’s Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) to support minority-owned businesses is teetering on self-destruction due to conflict with the Trump administration.
Politico, citing a Commerce employee and a Democratic staffer granted anonymity to discuss personnel matters, reports the program, which funds grants to business owners and provides technical assistance, support and mentorship, has had 100 percent of its staff, about 50 people, placed on administrative leave or redistributed within the Commerce Department.
The move conflicts Scott’s work over the years in prioritizing efforts to expand access to capital and economic mobility for underserved communities, like the one he says he grew up in, and minority businesses such as his own Main Street insurance agency.
Although the MBDA’s work dates back to the Nixon administration, Scott’s public silence regarding the agency’s gutting has become a major concern. At
“They are watching this happen, and they are doing nothing. That’s cowardice. And it cuts especially deep when the people you once believed were your champions turn their backs in silence,” a Commerce Department employee said of Scott’s and other Republicans’ silence on cuts to the program.
Noting the impact o Scott’s unresponsiveness and the quiet status of other conservative Republicans on the issue, Politico touched on it underscoring the fine line they have to walk between their own interests and loyalty to the party amid the administration’s broader war against the government’s diversity-focused initiatives.
A spokesperson for the South Carolina based lawmaker highlighted his record of working with Trump to deliver “life-changing results for minority communities around the nation.” They pointed to Scott’s efforts under Trump’s first term to secure permanent funding for historically Black colleges and universities was mentioned in terms of it creating “opportunity zones” under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and cutting taxes for single mothers.
“Their vision of America is one that allows every American, no matter their background, to have the necessary tools and resources to achieve their American dream. Senator Scott and President Trump are undoubtedly working to make sure our country works for all hard-working Americans,” the Scott spokesperson said in a statement.
Although Scott and other Republican lawmakers have voiced their support of minority businesses via the MBDA’s mission, one of the Commerce Department employments revealed their wish that the the agency would change its name to avoid political attention.
With the MBDA’s gutting, recent efforts by Scott to improve access to economic tools for underserved communities and minority business owners have been compromised The failure of the senator’s Empowering Main Street in America Act, which sought to improve access to capital for small businesses, including minority, women-owned and rural small businesses may have been a blow, but Scott said last month that he will continue pushing the legislation forward.
Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott has spent years boosting a federal program to support minority-owned businesses. The Trump administration dismantled it in a matter of weeks.
Scott shamelessly hasn’t said a peep about it. https://t.co/C9wnpybEoK
— Jon Cooper
(@joncoopertweets) April 22, 2025
Other fallout from the current cuts include the inability for the MBDA to deliver core programs, like the Capital Readiness Program, which offers assistance accessing capital and provides technical assistance services as well as the shuttering of a national network of business centers the release of contractors.
A spokesperson for the Denver MBDA Business Center stated the agency’s director was notified last week via an internal email last week that the center was closed. In addition, all grants to the agency’s 41 business centers were terminated, according to a Commerce Department employee revealed. Politico noted a letter it obtained that was sent April 17 by Nate Cavanaugh, a DOGE employee, under the authority of Keith Sonderling, acting undersecretary of the MBDA and the current deputy secretary of Labor. The note, which specifically cited President Donald Trump’s executive order to minimize the agency, served as notification to grantees of the termination, which was effective immediately.
“Upon further review, MBDA has determined that your grant is unfortunately no longer consistent with the agency’s priorities and no longer serves the interest of the United States and MBDA program,” Cavanaugh wrote in the letter.
For more about the Trump administration’s actions against Tim Scott’s work with the MBDA, click here.
Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott (R-S.C.) has spent years boosting a federal program to support minority-owned businesses. Trump’s administration dismantled it in a matter of weeks.https://t.co/FMuPqCXpki pic.twitter.com/LdHOwIGMk0
— Justice is Served
(@pleasesaveour) April 22, 2025
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