Press Releases

Washington, D.C. –  Congressman Ralph Norman (SC-05) has introduced a bill to eliminate the Economic Development Administration (EDA) for his #WastefulWednesday initiative.

Congressman Norman has released the following statement:

"This bill will eliminate the ineffective and duplicative federal program, the Economic Development Administration (EDA). The EDA is one of 80 federal programs that provide economic development aid.

“The EDA is an ineffective and duplicative federal program. The Bush, Obama, and Trump Administrations have all supported eliminating or drastically reducing the EDA. This agency has repeatedly been criticized for exaggerating the number of jobs their programs have been able to create, for failing to provide grants to profitable projects, and for failing to obtain proper documentation for their projects.

“A few examples of the EDA’s failure to be a good steward of tax payer dollars include: claiming to create 5,834 jobs when they only created 83 and spending 61% of funds on administrative cost, while only spending 39% providing assistance.

“The EDA is a prime example of our federal government’s #wasteful spending habits.”