On December 5, 2025, the Small Business Administration (SBA) issued formal data and document requests to certified 8(a) Business Development Program participants. This follows SBA’s June 2025 announcement that it would implement an “immediate and full-scale audit” of the 8(a) Program. The requests, issued by the SBA Office of General Counsel via email, justified the audit as follows: “Recent reports by journalists and independent investigators have raised questions about widespread misconduct within the 8(a) Businesses [sic] Development Program, adding to years of credible concerns that the program designed to serve ‘socially and economically disadvantaged’ businesses has become a vehicle for institutionalized abuse at taxpayer expense.” Given the wide-ranging scope of the full-program audit, PilieroMazza launched an “8(a) Audit Response Task Force” to assist clients in navigating SBA’s audit requests and any ongoing or future investigations, inquiries, and litigation arising out of the audit.

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