NJ Congresswoman Tries To Stop Trump Budget Cut With New Bill

U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver is picking a new fight with the Trump administration. The battle ground? Small businesses.

Earlier this month, the congresswoman from New Jersey introduced a spending bill that would protect a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) program which is being targeted for elimination under President Donald Trump’s 2027 budget proposal.

The federal agency’s small business development centers (SBDCs) provide free counseling, training, and resources to small business owners and entrepreneurs. The centers operate in partnership with state governments and higher education institutions.

According to the SBA website, centers are located at Brookdale Community College, Fairleigh Dickinson University, New Jersey City University, Ramapo College, Rutgers University, Stockton University, The College of NJ, and William Paterson University, among other sites in New Jersey.

McIver, who represents several towns and cities in Essex, Hudson and Union counties, is trying to ward off an early grave for the program with the Small Business Development Centers Improvement Act.

According to McIver, the spending bill would reauthorize the program for an amount up to $175 million annually through the 2029 fiscal year.

The congresswoman said the bill would keep the administration from gutting a program that has historically boosted working people, especially low-income, minority and female entrepreneurs.

“The SBDC program is a proven resource and eliminating it will disproportionately harm the most vulnerable entrepreneurs and strip our communities of the establishments that make them special,” McIver said.

McIver captured the Democratic nomination in the June primary election. She will face a challenge from Republican nominee Carmen Bucco in the general election on Nov. 3.

The congresswoman still faces federal charges in connection with a controversial incident that took place outside a federal immigration detention center in Newark last year. She has alleged that the charges are politically motivated.

New Jersey’s 10th district includes the following municipalities: Caldwell, East Orange, Essex Fells, Irvington, Montclair (part), Newark (part), Orange, Verona, West Orange in Essex County; Jersey City (part) in Hudson County; Cranford, Garwood, Hillside, Kenilworth, Linden (part), Roselle, Roselle Park, Union Township in Union County.

• Related: McIver Gives NJ-10 ‘State Of District Speech (Here’s What She Said)

POTENTIAL CUTS TO U.S. SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

The elimination of the SBDC program is among a series of cuts that are being floated for the U.S. Small Business Administration under the president’s federal spending proposal, which calls for a 67 percent decrease to the agency’s $1 billion budget in 2026.

The Trump administration has argued that the cuts will eliminate programs that waste taxpayer dollars on “failed business counseling and training programs.”

SBA administrator Kelly Loeffler has supported many of the president’s America First agenda moves involving small businesses.

Speaking during National Small Business Week earlier this year, Loeffler praised Trump for “cutting taxes and regulations, restoring fair trade and public safety, and shutting down the Green New Scam, fraud, DEI and open border policies that threatened our economic stability during the last administration.”

Congress also debated a funding reduction for the SBA in the fiscal year 2026 budget, although not specifically for the SBDC program. Federal lawmakers eventually voted to fund SBA programs at or above their requested levels, according to a Congressional Research Service report.

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