November 10, 2025
Ms. Ernst introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
To prohibit the Small Business Administration from awarding sole source contracts until the Administration conducts a full audit of and submits to Congress a report on the business development program, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Stop 8(a) Contracting Fraud Act
.
Sec. 2. Moratorium on sole source contracts
(a) Definitions
In this section—
(1)
the terms Administration and Administrator mean the Small Business Administration and the Administrator thereof, respectively; and
(2)
the term Deputy Administrator means the Deputy Administrator of the Administration.
(b) Moratorium
The Administration may not award sole source contracts under section 8(a)(16) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)(16)) during the period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and ending on the date on which the Administration—
(1)
completes the audit of the business development program under such section 8(a) ordered to be conducted by the Administrator on June 27, 2025; and
(2)
submits to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship of the Senate and the Committee on Small Business of the House of Representatives a report that includes the findings of the audit described in paragraph (1).
(c) Waiver
(1) In general
If a contracting officer determines that it is in the interest of national security to conduct a sole source contract under section 8(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 637(a)), the contracting officer may seek a waiver of the moratorium under subparagraph (b).
(2) Submission of request
(A) In general
(i) Submission to head acquisition officer
The contracting officer may submit a request for a waiver to the head acquisition officer (or equivalent) for the agency of the contracting officer.
(ii) Submission to Administrator
Following approval of a submission under clause (i), the head acquisition officer (or equivalent) shall submit the request for a waiver to the Administrator or Deputy Administrator.
(B) Contents of request
A request for a waiver submitted under subparagraph (A) shall include a justification explaining—
(i)
the reason the use of the waiver authority is imperative for national security purposes; and
(ii)
the reason the work cannot be performed by any other small business concern.
(C) Form of request and approval
(i) Request
The justification required under subparagraph (B) shall be submitted in writing.
(ii) Approval
The Administrator or Deputy Administrator may approve a request for a waiver.
(3) Nondelegation
The waiver authority established under paragraph (1) may not be delegated.