Pandemic watchdog calls the number of investigations into arts and restaurant bailouts ‘underwhelming’ and ’embarrassing’

• A proposed bill would extend the window to bring charges related to arts and restaurant bailout fraud.
• A Small Business Administration watchdog said the agency has so few cases it’s “embarrassing.”
• Musicians used millions in pandemic relief funds to pay themselves, throw parties, and fly private.

A top federal pandemic-aid investigator said the number of investigations into $43 billion in emergency grants to restaurants and entertainment businesses has been “embarrassing” and “underwhelming.”

William Kirk, the new inspector general for the Small Business Administration, urged Congress to give prosecutors more time to bring charges against people for defrauding two lesser-known pandemic aid programs: the $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization Fund and the $14.6 billion Shuttered Venue Operators Grant.

“There is no possible way that our office would be able to investigate all of the outstanding referrals and cases that we’ve received in the SVOG and the RRF program,” he said at a Senate hearing on Wednesday. “The scope of the work is such that we would need much more time.”

Business Insider reported in 2023 and 2024 on hundreds of millions of dollars that flowed from SVOG to artists like Lil Wayne, Post Malone, Marshmello, and Nickelback. While those grants may have been legal under the extremely broad language passed by Congress, records showed that some artists spent their taxpayer grants on lavish parties, private jets, and multimillion-dollar bonuses for themselves.

Senator Joni Ernst has pushed to extend the window for bringing charges related to SVOG and RRF fraud. Ernst previously said her Democratic counterpart, Senator Ed Markey, wasn’t letting the bill advance, though Markey’s comments at the hearing suggested the logjam might be breaking.

“I am committed to passing this legislation as part of a comprehensive set of reforms and look forward to working with the chair to advance it, along with other bipartisan priorities,” Markey said. “That said, our efforts to fight against fraud should not be limited to going after small restaurants and theaters, especially when President Trump is letting off fraudsters left and right.”

The bill had been caught up in a larger dispute about other small-business programs that provide research funds to early-stage tech companies. Markey said in a statement that a deal had been reached to extend them for five years.

Kirk, who was sworn in early January, said in prepared testimony that while hundreds of complaints have poured in about potential abuse of the Shuttered Venues program, his office has six open investigations. He said that while his office’s investigators and auditors are “dedicated professionals,” they were focused on other areas of fraud in recent years.

In response to questions from Ernst, who leads the Senate small business committee, about whether Kirk’s office would have time to bring charges before time runs out in April or May, Kirk called the office’s work on those programs “underwhelming.”

“The handful of investigations — quite honestly, it’s an embarrassing number — of investigations we currently have underway, those would probably time out,” he added.

Congress has already extended the statute of limitations to charge some fraud related to the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans, two larger and better-known programs, tacking on another five years to the normal five-year window to bring charges.

Some Democrats at the hearing pressed Kirk to investigate the activities of the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency at the SBA.

Asked by Senator Jeanne Shaheen if he was concerned about the office’s activities, Kirk said, “Not currently, no.”