U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE DETERMINATION LETTER

  Mr. MARKEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
Government Accountability Office's determination letter on the matter
of ``U.S. Small Business Administration--Applicability of the
Congressional Review Act to Policy and Procedural Notices Updating
Citizenship and Residency Requirements for 7(a) and 504 Loans,'' dated
July 1, 2026, be printed in the Congressional Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:

                                Decision

     Matter of: U.S. Small Business Administration--Applicability
         of the Congressional Review Act to Policy and Procedural
         Notices Updating Citizenship and Residency Requirements
         for 7(a) and 504 Loans.
     File: B-338157.
     Date: July 1, 2026.

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       In February 2026, the U.S. Small Business Administration
     (SBA) issued a Policy Notice and a Procedural Notice
     (together, the 2026 Notices) that modified its standard
     operating procedures governing the 7(a) and 504 loan
     programs. Through the 2026 Notices, SBA began requiring that
     100 percent of all direct and/or indirect owners of a small
     business applicant for one of the loan programs be U.S.
     citizens or U.S. nationals who have their principal residence
     in the U.S., its territories, or possessions.
       The Congressional Review Act (CRA) requires that before a
     rule can take effect, an agency must submit the rule to both
     the House of Representatives and the Senate, as well as the
     Comptroller General. CRA adopts the definition of a rule
     under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) but excludes
     certain categories of rules from coverage. We conclude that
     the 2026 Notices meet the APA definition of a rule and no CRA
     exception applies. Therefore, the 2026 Notices are a rule
     subject to CRA's submission requirements.

                                decision

       On February 2, 2026, the U.S. Small Business Administration
     (SBA) issued a Policy Notice, and on February 11, 2026, SBA
     issued a Procedural Notice (together, the 2026 Notices). The
     2026 Notices modified SBA's standard operating procedure
     (SOP) 50 10, Lender and Development Company Loan Programs,
     which contains SBA's loan origination policies and procedures
     governing its 7(a) and 504 loan programs. After the 2026
     Notices took effect on March 1, 2026, 100 percent of all
     direct and/or indirect owners of a small business applicant
     were required to be U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals who have
     their principal residence in the United States, its
     territories, or possessions.
       We received a request for a decision as to whether the 2026
     Notices are a rule for purposes of the Congressional Review
     Act (CRA). Our practice when rendering decisions is to
     contact the relevant agencies to obtain factual information
     and their legal views on the subject of the request.
     Accordingly, we reached out to SBA on March 3, 2026. SBA did
     not provide a response with its views.

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