Donald Trump (R) announced on Dec. 4, 2024, that he had selected former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) as his nominee for administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA). This position requires Senate confirmation. In a statement, Trump said, “Small Businesses are the backbone of our Great Economy. Kelly will bring her experience in business and Washington to reduce red tape, and unleash opportunity for our Small Businesses to grow, innovate, and thrive. She will focus on ensuring that SBA is accountable to Taxpayers by cracking down on waste, fraud, and regulatory overreach.”
Loeffler grew up in Illinois. She received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an M.B.A. from DePaul University. Loeffler formerly co-owned the Atlanta Dream WNBA team. She served as chief communications and marketing officer and as head of investor relations for Intercontinental Exchange, a firm that operates commodity and financial exchanges, for 16 years. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) appointed Loeffler to the U.S. Senate after Johnny Isakson (R) resigned in December 2019 for health reasons. Loeffler assumed office in January 2020. Loeffler lost the special runoff election for the seat in January 2021 to Raphael Warnock (D).
Loeffler was Trump’s 23rd announced Cabinet nominee. This was the final Cabinet nomination Trump had left to announce if his list of Cabinet and Cabinet-level positions matches the list he used at the start of his first term. The positions a president designates as Cabinet-level can vary from administration to administration.
Trump announced his intent to nominate Loeffler 29 days after election day, tied with his nomination announcement in 2016 for the fastest announcement of an SBA administrator nominee across the last four presidential transitions. President Joe Biden (D) announced his SBA administrator pick 65 days after the 2020 election, and former President Barack Obama (D) announced his SBA administrator pick 45 days after election day.
Trump announced all 23 of his expected Cabinet-level nominees within 29 days of election day. At this point after election day, Biden had announced seven Cabinet-level positions in 2020, Trump had announced 13 in 2016, and Obama had announced nine in 2008. It took Trump 72 days to name all 23 of the nominees for these positions in 2016.
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