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Wednesday, Apr. 30, 2025

Did an Oklahoma member of Congress have over a million dollars in business loans forgiven while serving as a representative? 

Matthew Yim, Oklahoma Watch
yes

Sen. Markwayne Mullin’s various plumbing businesses received $1.45 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans in April 2020 that have been forgiven. 

The Paycheck Protection Program was a pandemic relief program in which the Small Business Administration issued 11.5 million loans, totaling $792.6 billion, to incentivize small businesses to retain their workers on the payroll. 

Businesses in Oklahoma received 154,893 loans totalling $8.33 billion, and reported retaining 968,186 jobs. Mullin’s four businesses that received PPP loans reported 140 jobs retained..

One of Rep. Kevin Hern’s companies, KTAK, received $1.07 million in PPP loans, which went to the five McDonald’s it owned – those loans have also been forgiven. 

Though the PPP did not initially bar members of Congress, H.R.8265, introduced in September 2020, made entities in which such people held a controlling interest of 20% or more ineligible. 

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