Businesses owned by the Susanville Indian Rancheria sued the Small Business Administration on Oct. 22, accusing the agency of a “brazen abuse of government power” that cost them nearly $130 million in federal contracts and cut off revenue supporting the Northern California tribe.
The tribe’s ATI Government Solutions LLC federal contracting business, along with six affiliated businesses and three executives, filed the complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against SBA and its administrator, Kelly Loeffler. They seek to overturn contracting suspensions imposed last year after a hidden-camera video by conservative activist James O’Keefe alleged ATI used its tribal status to improperly funnel federal work to other companies.
Within hours of the video’s Oct. 20, 2025, release, Loeffler amplified it on social media and announced an investigation into ATI and its tribal owner. The next day, SBA suspended ATI and three executives from federal contracting without first contacting them, seeking documents or conducting interviews, according to the complaint.
Two days later, SBA also suspended ATI from the 8(a) program. ATI appealed that decision to SBA’s Office of Hearings and Appeals.
The plaintiffs say SBA’s supporting record contained corporate information, a SAM.gov printout and links to three O’Keefe videos, two published after ATI’s initial suspension. SBA attorney Edmund Bender later confirmed the agency “did not receive” unedited footage and “accessed the videos through YouTube,” according to the court filing. ATI alleges the videos were heavily edited and misleading.
ATI and its affiliates lost nearly $130 million in existing contracts and more than $500 million in potential new business because of the suspensions, according to the complaint. ATI says it has laid off almost all of its 67 employees.
In a May 18 order on the 8(a) appeal, Administrative Judge Christopher Holleman found SBA had changed its justification for suspending ATI. The agency initially cited an employee’s statements about ATI’s operations. On appeal, it argued that ATI’s broader contracting suspension justified excluding it from the 8(a) program.
Holleman rejected that shift and found SBA made “no effort whatever to substantiate” the employee statements. He ordered the agency to produce a complete record before deciding whether the suspension was justified.
SBA lifted the 8(a) suspension June 4, according to the complaint, but kept the broader contracting ban in place. On Oct. 21, it extended that ban another six months.
Quinton Carroll, executive director of the Native American Contractors Association, said NACA supports full oversight and accountability in federal contracting, but agencies must substantiate their decisions and provide a fair process.
“In this case the SBA appeals judge identified serious deficiencies in the record supporting ATI’s 8(a) suspension, and those findings warrant a clear explanation from the agency,” Carroll told Tribal Business News.
“These issues have have consequences beyond an individual company or contract,” he said. “Prolonged exclusion from the federal marketplace can directly affect the Tribal and Native communities these businesses serve,” he added.
ATI denies operating as an improper pass-through, violating subcontracting limits or depriving the tribe of its proportional profits. The plaintiffs ask the court to lift the suspensions and prohibit actions that effectively bar them from federal contracting.
Tribal Business News reached out to the SBA, which replied that it doesn’t comment on active litigation.
