NFIB’s Josh McLeod in Washington Examiner: Congress Needs to Repeal Invasive Beneficial Ownership Reporting Mandate

Small businesses urge lawmakers to secure regulatory relief

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 24, 2026) – NFIB Director of Federal Government Relations Josh McLeod penned a new op-ed in Washington Examiner calling on Congress to repeal the invasive Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting requirement. In the piece, McLeod commends President Trump for protecting American small businesses from the law and its egregious penalties and explains why Congress must provide Main Street with permanent relief.

McLeod writes:

“In 2025, President Donald Trump gave small businesses one of the largest regulatory relief victories ever by exempting U.S. businesses from the burdensome and unconstitutional Corporate Transparency Act. This little-known but highly intrusive law mandated that over 30 million small businesses register their beneficial ownership information with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Failure to comply meant small businesses could face civil and criminal penalties of up to $10,000 and up to two years in prison.”

[…]

“If FinCEN began enforcement in 2025, over 16 million small businesses could have faced those egregious civil and criminal penalties. Some in Congress scoff and believe it was an unlikely scenario, but that was the reality facing millions of small-business owners. And while the mandate isn’t currently being enforced, the law is still on the books. A future administration could reimpose this invasive law and the stiff penalties that come with it, punishing Main Street once again.”

[…]

“If Congress is serious about providing long-term regulatory relief to small businesses, it must make Trump’s $128 billion regulatory cost-saving exemption permanent. Doing so will prevent this threat from reemerging under a future administration.”

Read the full op-ed here.