H.R. 7401 · Where this bill is now
In the Senate
Passed the House Jun 24, 2026. Received Jul 13, 2026; no Senate vote yet
What this bill does
In plain words · AI-written from the official summarySBA loan staff must certify no conflicts
The bill requires Small Business Administration employees who help originate, review, or approve SBA loans to certify in writing that they don't have conflicts of interest related to those loans. They also have to promise to disclose any conflicts that come up later and confirm they understand conflict of interest rules. The SBA would need to create regulations to carry out these requirements.
How it affects you
If you apply for an SBA loan, this means the government employees handling your application will have to certify they don't have financial stakes or other conflicts that could bias their decisions about your loan. This doesn't directly change how you apply or what you qualify for, but it's intended to add a layer of oversight to protect the integrity of the lending process.
Read the official summary (Reported to House, Feb 20, 2026)
Small Business Lending Fraud Prevention Act
This bill requires Small Business Administration (SBA) employees who participate in the origination, review, or approval of SBA loans to certify in writing prior to such participation that the employee
• does not have any conflict of interest with respect to the loan,
• will disclose any such conflict of interest arising after the certification is made, and
• understands the requirements with respect to conflicts of interest applicable SBA employees.
Under current law, federal employees must disclose financial conflicts of interest with respect to a particular matter and recuse themselves from such matter (with limited exceptions upon authorization from the employee's agency designee).
The SBA must issue regulations implementing the requirements of this bill.
Written by AI (Claude) using only the official summary by the Congressional Research Service, the Library of Congress’s nonpartisan research staff. It can miss nuance, so check the official summary and the bill text for details.
2nd SessionH. R. 7401
AN ACT
Small Business Lending Fraud Prevention Act
Sponsor: Rep. Daniel Meuser (R-PA-9) · Introduced Feb 5, 2026 · Commerce · 4 versions of the text
Sources: Congress.gov actions and votes · bill text from GovInfo · latest official action Jul 13, 2026: “Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.”
How Congress voted
Official roll callsHouse · On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass · Jun 24, 2026
Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass Passed 415–0
| Party | Yes | No | Present | Didn’t vote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 205 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Independents | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Republicans | 209 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
Congress votes on whole bills and amendments, not on single sections.
Sections
The wording of this bill hasn’t changed across its 4 official versions.