The Senate is expected to vote later this week on confirming a top Biden administration nominee who has received scrutiny from Republicans over his anti-Israel ties.
President Joe Biden renominated Dilawar Syed to be deputy administrator of the Small Business Administration in January after Senate Republicans blocked the now-State Department official’s confirmation in September 2021. Syed’s prior board member role for Emgage Action, which has likened Israel to an “apartheid state” and embraced the antisemitism-linked boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement against Israel, has led to GOP lawmakers and watchdog groups speaking out against him.
ESG: WHAT IT IS AND HOW IT AFFECTS YOU, EVEN IF YOU DON’T REALIZE IT
“The fact that the Biden administration would work with Chuck Schumer to push through a nomination like this lays bare the administration’s weak support for Israel,” Tom Jones, president of the American Accountability Foundation, a conservative watchdog, told the Washington Examiner.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) filed cloture on June 1 in connection to Syed’s nomination, an indication he’s gearing up for a vote on the Senate floor. Syed currently serves as the State Department’s special representative for commercial and business affairs, where he focuses on U.S. company exports and “commercial advocacy.”
Syed was on the board of Emgage Action until at least 2021, according to a letter he sent in March of that year to the Small Business Administration with regard to his nomination. This affiliation proved concerning for Republicans and pro-Israel groups, including the Zionist Organization of America, which said that Syed “would be a danger to American Jews everywhere and to all those who do business with or benefit from Israeli and Jewish businesses.”
Emgage, which has notably touted fundraising alongside “Squad” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), has accused the Jewish state of promoting a “racist, undemocratic, Israeli apartheid rule that steals [Palestinian] land and destroys their homes to make way for illegal Jewish settlements,” according to multiple reports.
The organization has also referred to the BDS movement, which is composed of groups that have equated Israeli soldiers and officials to “Nazis,” as a “constitutionally protected nonviolent response that seeks to end the occupation,” records show.
“The last thing Main Street needs is another SBA deputy administrator who wants to increase red tape while refusing to be transparent with Congress,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), ranking member on the Small Business Committee, told the Washington Examiner. “I questioned Dilawar Syed on whether he believes that overregulation stifles innovation and entrepreneurship — he could not give me a direct answer. This is unacceptable to Iowa’s entrepreneurs who are struggling in Biden’s economy and drowning in ever-changing regulations.”
Ernst further said that she “cannot support” an SBA nominee “who won’t join in my fight to make it easier for Iowans to achieve their dream.”
However, the White House defended Syed’s nomination in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“Dilawar Syed is well-qualified to serve as deputy administrator of the SBA, which has been critical in providing relief to small businesses in the midst of the pandemic,” Emilie Simons, a spokeswoman for the White House, said. “He has served with distinction for the last year as U.S. Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs at State. He would be a strong, history-making leader at SBA and we continue to seek his swift confirmation.”
Senate Republicans also questioned him over why he has not committed to taking steps to claw back the roughly $100 million in taxpayer-backed COVID-19 loans they say that the Biden administration unlawfully handed to Planned Parenthood.
