On March 27, 2025, Nebraska Senator Pete Ricketts voted for S.J.Res. 18, which repealed a federal rule the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau estimated would save households up to $5 billion a year in big-bank overdraft fees, "or $225 per household that pays overdraft fees". He also voted against striking a cut to the bureau's funding cap from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as the bureau dropped cases including its suits over Zelle scam reimbursements.
Ricketts cast a deciding vote that kept the global tariffs in a 49-49 vote on April 30, 2025; those tariffs, later struck down by the Supreme Court, were part of an estimated $650 million in executive tariffs paid on imports into Nebraska since January 2025, most of it on materials and parts Nebraska manufacturers buy. He voted to confirm Kelly Loeffler, whose Small Business Administration announced it would cut about 2,700 staff positions, 43 percent of its workforce.
Pete Ricketts's Votes on Small Businesses, Consumers and Corporate Power
- Ricketts Voted to Repeal a Limit on Big-Bank Overdraft Fees in March 2025. On March 27, 2025, Ricketts voted yes on S.J.Res. 18, disapproving the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's rule on overdraft lending by very large banks; it passed 52-48. The bureau had estimated the rule would save up to $5 billion a year, "or $225 per household that pays overdraft fees".
- Ricketts Voted Against Keeping the Consumer Bureau's Funding in June 2025. On June 30, 2025, Ricketts voted no on an amendment to strike the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's cut to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding cap; it failed 47-53. The law cut the cap from 12 percent to 6.5 percent of the Federal Reserve's operating expenses (Public Law 119-21), as the bureau moved to drop cases including its suits against the Zelle network banks for not reimbursing customers defrauded by scammers: the Trump administration filed to dismiss the Zelle Network cases on 3/4/25, according to Public Citizen's tracker.
- Ricketts Cast a Deciding Vote for a Small Business Tax Break That Mostly Goes to Millionaires. On July 1, 2025, Ricketts voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which passed 50-50 with the Vice President's vote and whose section 70431 expands the qualified small business stock exclusion. ITEP found that "94 percent of the exclusion goes to households with annual income over $1 million" and that states following the federal rule will lose $710 million in 2026, rising to $1.2 billion in 2031. The same law will eliminate de minimis availability under the US Tariff Act of 1930 starting on July 1, 2027, a channel small online sellers used for goods of $800 or less.
- Ricketts Cast a Deciding Vote That Kept the Global Tariffs on Small Importers in April 2025. On April 30, 2025, Pete Ricketts voted no on ending the emergency behind the "reciprocal" tariffs; it failed 49-49, so a yes vote from Ricketts alone would have passed it. He also voted against ending the Canada, Brazil and global emergencies in April and October 2025 (roll call 160, 594, 598, 600). The Learning Resources plaintiffs, two small businesses later won the Supreme Court case striking those tariffs down, and full refunds are going only to importers that sued. In the Federal Reserve's 2026 small business survey, more than four in 10 firms reported that increased costs associated with tariffs were a financial challenge.
- Ricketts Voted to Confirm the SBA Chief Who Cut 43 Percent of the Agency's Staff. On February 19, 2025, Ricketts voted to confirm Kelly Loeffler as Small Business Administrator; it passed 52-46. In March 2025 the agency announced it would phase out about 2,700 staff positions, 43 percent of its workforce, and the New York Times reported that deep staffing cuts and stricter loan terms at the Small Business Administration are making it harder for entrepreneurs to get loans, contracts and advice.
- Ricketts Voted to Confirm Russell Vought, Under Whom the Consumer Bureau Dropped Cases Against Corporations. On February 6, 2025, Ricketts voted to confirm Russell Vought as budget director, and Vought then served as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's acting director of the agency. Public Citizen counts enforcement actions canceled or frozen against more than 200 corporations under the administration, and by March 2025 90% of the CFPB's staff had been cut, the Associated Press reported.
What the Tariffs and Cuts Pete Ricketts Backed Mean for Nebraska Small Businesses
- Tariff costs for Nebraska businesses. Executive tariffs have cost Nebraska an estimated $650 million since January 2025, and About 79% of that fell on raw materials, parts, and equipment that Nebraska manufacturers buy, according to the National Taxpayers Union Foundation's tracker.
- Family manufacturers. In Giltner, Bish Enterprises, which makes farm equipment, said 2026 prices for some components of his company’s products are up 75% to 80% over a year earlier, and The Chocolate Season in Lincoln, with about two dozen workers, buys ingredients from France and Switzerland, which are both subject to tariffs, KCUR reported.
Frequently Asked Questions About Pete Ricketts on Small businesses and competition
What is Pete Ricketts's record on small businesses and competition under Trump?
Pete Ricketts voted to repeal the overdraft fee rule and against keeping the consumer bureau's funding cap, and voted for a tax law whose small-business stock break sends 94 percent of its benefit to households earning over $1 million. He cast a deciding vote that kept the global tariffs in a 49-49 vote, and voted to confirm SBA chief Kelly Loeffler, who cut 43 percent of the agency's staff.
Do Nebraska small businesses get refunds for the tariffs the Supreme Court struck down?
Only some, and Pete Ricketts voted to keep those tariffs: full refunds are going to importers that sued, so Nebraska small businesses that paid the duties without suing face a harder path. Ricketts voted against ending the tariff emergencies in 2025, including the 49-49 vote one more yes would have won.
What happened to the Small Business Administration under Kelly Loeffler?
Under Kelly Loeffler, whom Pete Ricketts voted to confirm on February 19, 2025, the agency announced in March 2025 it would phase out about 2,700 positions, 43 percent of its workforce, and staffing cuts and stricter loan terms were making it harder for entrepreneurs to get loans, contracts and advice.
Last updated: 2026-10-25