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White House Sends Aides to Beleaguered Small Business Agency

Unprecedented demand for SBA loans in coronavirus outbreak
Agency struggling with loan requests and starting new program

A pedestrian wearing a protective face mask walks past a boarded up store in San Francisco, on  March 24. — A pedestrian wearing a protective face mask walks past a boarded up store in San Francisco, on March 24.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

By

Jennifer Jacobs,

Michael Sasso, and

March 31, 2020, 5:05 PM UTCUpdated onMarch 31, 2020, 8:37 PM UTC

The White House is dispatching staff to the Small Business Administration as the agency struggles with a flood of requests for financial aid to cope with the coronavirus outbreak, according to people familiar with the matter.

President Donald Trump’s daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump is sending one aide, as is the National Economic Council and the White House communications office, one of the people said.