
At least four members of Congress benefited from loans under the $670 billion Paycheck Protection Program — and there are no rules requiring them to reveal that they did so.
Politico first reported that a small group of Republicans and Democrats have close connections to businesses known to have taken loans under PPP, the small business aid program. Companies that benefited from the loans are either managed by the lawmakers' families or employ spouses in senior and sometimes executive roles.
Those on the GOP side include Texas Rep. Roger Williams, a businessman who owns auto dealerships and car washes, as well as Missouri Rep. Vicky Hartzler. Her family owns farms and equipment suppliers throughout the Midwestern region.
Democrats who accepted PPP loans are Nevada Rep. Susie Lee, whose husband is chief executive of a casino developer, and Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell of Florida, another lawmaker whose husband is a senior executive at a restaurant that returned the PPP loan.