House Democrats ask 5 companies to return coronavirus aid

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Democratic-led subcommittee overseeing federal coronavirus aid is demanding that five companies return loans the panel says should have gone to smaller businesses.

The subcommittee led by Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., sent letters Friday to the companies as its first official action. The House voted last month to create the panel over the objections of Republicans who say it is partisan and duplicative of other oversight efforts around the federal government.

The panel said the companies they contacted received loans of $10 million or more, are all public, have more than 600 employees and have a stock market value of more than $ 25 million.

The letters were sent to EVO Transportation & Energy Services Inc., a transportation operator in Arizona; Gulf Island Fabrication Inc., a manufacturer of marine vessels used in the energy sector based in Texas; MiMedx Group Inc., a biopharmaceutical company based in Georgia; Quantum Corporation, a video streaming and storage company based in Silicon Valley, California; and Universal Stainless & Alloy Products Inc., a steel manufacturer based in Pennsylvania.

The letters ask the companies to respond by Monday and inform the committee whether they are returning the money and by what date. They say that the law providing the aid was passed by Congress to be a lifeline for small businesses who might be forced to lay off employees or shut down entirely.

“We did not intend for these funds to be used by large corporations that have a substantial investor base and access to capital markets,” the Democrats wrote.