Chairman Williams: Every Five Minutes, Democrats Fail Main Street

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The following Op-Ed by Congressman Roger Williams (R-TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, appeared in the Washington Reporter this week.

Somewhere in America, a small business owner is checking their email, waiting for an approval for their loan that is not coming. Another is checking their payroll, trying to decide if they can make it another day without Small Business Administration (SBA) assistance or whether they will be forced to close their doors. Plans are stalled, paychecks are delayed, and confidence has slipped.

“This scene will repeat itself again in five minutes. Then five minutes after that. And again, after that.

“This is what the Democrat Shutdown looks like from Main Street. As Chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, I hear these firsthand experiences from small business owners across the country daily. For every day it drags on, an estimated 320 small businesses cannot access SBA guaranteed loans — roughly one every five minutes. The shutdown has become a ticking clock over Main Street, marking lost opportunities minute by minute.

“A recent Goldman Sachs survey of 1,500 small business owners found that 72 percent believe it is critical for Congress to reach a spending agreement, and nearly two-thirds expect a drop in customer demand if the shutdown continues. Those numbers are a warning sign: confidence, the most valuable currency on Main Street, is draining fast.

“This shutdown is particularly unfortunate because just weeks ago, small businesses were closing out their best year in recent history. The SBA ended fiscal year 2025 with 84,400 guaranteed loans worth nearly $45 billion ⎯ the strongest year on record for small business lending. President Donald Trump’s leadership has been driving growth and opportunity across the country, with small businesses once again at the center of America’s economic strength. Then, suddenly, without any real reason to justify their actions other than saving their own hide, Senate Democrats blocked a clean Continuing Resolution and triggered a government shutdown that brought that progress to a screeching halt.

“Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warns the shutdown could cost the economy $15 billion a week. Behind that staggering number are hardworking families and storefronts: construction crews missing payroll, restaurants delaying expansions, and hardware stores running low on inventory ahead of the holidays.

“Small businesses cannot run on political timelines and wait for negotiations or headlines to shift. They work hard every day to ensure bills are paid on schedule, employees receive their paychecks, and their customers are serviced in a timely manner. Yet the programs built to keep them afloat —including SBA’s 7(a) and 504 loans — are frozen, leaving small business owners without access to the capital that helps keep the doors open.

“The effects ripple far beyond Washington. When cash flow freezes, communities slow down, suppliers stall production, contractors sit idle, and local diners see fewer customers at lunch. Businesses are forced to close their doors until they can pay their workers. Those workers miss out on essential paychecks. Those missed paychecks mean families unable to complete everyday purchases at their local stores. And the cycle continues. The consequences of the shutdown travel outward, touching every town that depends on Main Street to keep its economy moving forward. Each pause in access to lending is more than a bureaucratic delay; it is a small fracture in the backbone of America’s economy, widening by the minute.

“House Republicans did our job. We passed a measure to keep the government open and capital flowing, but Democrats continue, time and time again, to choose illegal immigrants, criminals, and wasteful spending — a choice that carries a cost measured not in political points or soundbites but in missed paychecks and shuttered doors. Every day of delay is another day Main Street pays the price for a $1.5 trillion left-wing wish list.

“Make no mistake: While Senate Democrats continue to hold the government hostage, Republicans will never back down in our fight to put American entrepreneurs, workers, and innovators first. I, along with many of my colleagues, have spent this time back home listening to you and looking for ways to ease the burden.

“America’s small businesses have always been resilient. They endured a pandemic, supply chain chaos, and inflation that squeezed their margins thin. They’ve adapted, innovated, and carried the economy forward when everything else was standing still. But even the strongest foundation can crack under the weight of constant uncertainty. Resilience should be rewarded, not tested.

“Every minute the government stays closed is another dream crushed. It is time to end the Democrat Shutdown and give Main Street its future back.

“The clock keeps ticking. In the time it took you to read this, another small business found itself unable to access much-needed capital from the SBA.”