Small Business Loans Helped the Well-Heeled and Connected, Too

WASHINGTON—Congress designed the Paycheck Protection Program to help small businesses weather fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, but the program’s $521 billion in loans also went to well-heeled and politically connected firms across the economy, including law offices, charities, restaurant chains and wealth managers.

The Trump administration released the names of borrowers for the first time Monday, following pressure by Congress and others to disclose who received the taxpayer-funded loans.