Government canceled nearly $ 400 billion in Covid relief PPP loans, federal watchdogs say

WASHINGTON – The federal government has canceled $ 394.6 billion on more than 4 million business loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), according to new data released by a group of internal federal watchdogs.

More than a million of those canceled Covid relief loans were for companies with only one employee, at a cost of $ 12.8 billion, an average of around $ 11,497 per job, according to data analysis by NBC News.

The data was released on Wednesday by the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC), a group of 22 inspectors general from different federal agencies that oversees all Covid relief spending for the government.

In total, according to the data, the Small Business Administration has granted 11.7 million loans nationwide for a total of more than $ 798 billion. The most recent loan package was sent out on June 30, and there is no money currently available under the program.

The top franchisees that raised funds overall were General Motors franchises at $ 1.4 billion, according to newly released data. Next are McDonald’s franchisees, which received $ 1.3 billion in funds, and Subway stores, which received $ 672.9 million.

The vast majority of businesses have told the federal government they are using the money for payroll – $ 776 billion of the $ 798 billion spent. As of June 30, companies said P3 funding enabled them to retain 90.3 million jobs.

On June 30, as cases of Covid and unemployment declined and vaccines were plentiful, the federal government sent $ 33 million in PPP loans to 62 companies that said they had a total of 4,469 employees.

Some of the biggest winners in this latest round of P3 loans have been four Planned Parenthood affiliates, which have raised a total of $ 4.13 million.

GOP Meaning. Marco Rubio of Florida and Rand Paul of Kentucky opposed any further P3 funding going to Planned Parenthood during a hearing in late May. The Trump administration had attempted to withdraw funding from Planned Parenthood affiliates who received $ 80 million in P3 loans last year.