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Guardian Investigation Finds That Trump Admin. Has Given Millions In PPP Bailouts To 11 Companies With Histories of Environmental and Workplace Safety Violations

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A newly released investigation by The Guardian finds that a number of energy companies that took Payroll Protection Program (PPP) funds have been fined millions more for environmental and workplace safety violations.

“The Trump administration should prioritize relief to small businesses and the millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet during this crisis,” said Kyle Herrig, President of Accountable.US. “Companies that have broken the law by harming our environment and jeopardizing their workers’ safety should not be getting rewarded with taxpayer-funded bailouts.”

This isn’t the first time corporate polluters have benefitted under the Trump administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier this year, The Guardian reported that companies benefiting from the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice’s enforcement holidays had been fined a total of $56,437,158 for their environmental violations and that many of these companies had significant ties to the Trump administration. 

Since its launch, the Payroll Protection Program has been plagued by mismanagement, with funds often going to major corporations instead of the small businesses it was purportedly created to help. Previous controversial PPP grantees include oil corporations that spent millions on stock buybacks, an Indiana-based coal corporation with a former Trump official as its lobbyist, at least two companies that market their ability to ship U.S. manufacturing jobs overseas, major luxury hotel chains, a fashion model agency, and even the L.A. Lakers.

Accountable.US has launched a Trump Bailouts tracker, to track which corporations are getting bailout money from the Trump administration. Learn more about the special interests fueling the Trump administration at Accountable.US and the administration’s ongoing efforts to carve out more big oil and coal bailouts at WesternValuesProject.org, an Accountable.US project focused on public lands conservation.

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