Thank you for contacting our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) office.  Due to a lapse in federal appropriations, our office is currently closed and staff have been furloughed. We are unable to process FOIA requests, respond to inquiries, or conduct any FOIA-related operations during this time.

What This Means for Your Request:

• New FOIA requests submitted during the shutdown will not be processed until normal operations resume
• Pending requests will experience delays, and statutory deadlines are tolled during the shutdown period
• We cannot provide status updates or respond to correspondence while furloughed
• No staff are available to assist with FOIA matters

When We Resume Operations:

Once funding is restored and normal operations resume, we will:

• Process requests in the order they were received
• Respond to inquiries as quickly as possible
• Provide updates on pending matters

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your patience during this time. Please check [agency website] for updates on when normal operations will resume.

FOIA

Learn how to submit a Freedom of Information Act request for information and records from SBA.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) gives you the right to request access to records from any federal agency. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is required to disclose information requested under the FOIA unless it falls under one of nine exemptions and three exclusions.

Please note that SBA is experiencing a significant increase in the number of FOIA requests since the onset of the pandemic. This increase is due in part to the agency’s administration of COVID-19 relief programs, including the Paycheck Protection Program, COVID Economic Injury Disaster Loans, the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, and the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant. Your request will be processed in the order in which it was received. Should you wish to discuss the status of your request or should you wish to narrow your request to reduce the time needed to respond to your request, please feel free to contact FOIA@sba.gov.

Frequently Requested Records

• COVID-19 relief programs data

  • Paycheck Protection Program data

  • COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and EIDL Advances

  • Restaurant Revitalization Fund data

  • Shuttered Venue Operators Grant data

• SBA 7(a) and 504 loan data

• SBA FOIA Annual Reports

• Congressional correspondence

• SBA credit card holder data

• SBA loss reports

The publicly released PPP data is based on information submitted by the lender to SBA.  

For concerns about publicly released EIDL data, please email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.

Public information on sba.gov

In addition to frequently requested records above, many documents are readily available on SBA.gov.

Examples include:

• Lists of SBA’s headquarters and field offices
• All SBA procedures and formal guidance
• Final opinions rendered in the adjudication of administrative cases
• Additional program data can be found in our open data store (data.sba.gov)