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by Christopher Bing and Avi Asher-Schapiro

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.

The ranking member of the House Oversight Committee is launching an investigation into whether the General Services Administration has given preferential treatment to a technology startup competing for a lucrative government contract. The startup is backed by some of President Donald Trump’s most influential Silicon Valley allies.

The committee’s action follows reporting by ProPublica last month that revealed the GSA was eyeing New York-based payments company Ramp to remake a massive, $700 billion federal credit card program known as SmartPay. Our reporting showed that senior GSA officials met with Ramp executives at least four times before publicly opening up a SmartPay contract opportunity.

Ethics experts flagged the early meetings as unusual and potentially problematic. Insiders at the GSA told ProPublica that, internally, Ramp was seen as the clear favorite for an initial $25 million pilot contract, which could act as an introduction to larger SmartPay work. The contract for the pilot program hasn’t been awarded yet.

A letter sent Friday to the GSA by Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va., and reviewed by ProPublica says Democrats on the committee want information about the GSA’s dealings with “Ramp, a company with zero federal contracting experience that is backed by prominent Trump supporters, Trump family connections, and allies of Elon Musk.”

Connolly’s letter demands an array of GSA documents, including “all communications between any GSA official, contractor or subcontractor and any representative of Ramp.”

Ramp did not respond to a request for comment about the investigation.

The GSA did not respond to questions Friday. Asked about Ramp for a previous article, a GSA spokesperson told ProPublica that the agency “refutes any suggestion of unfair or preferential contracting practices” and that the “credit card reform initiative has been well known to the public in an effort to address waste, fraud, and abuse.”

SmartPay, which provides Visa and Mastercard charge cards to government employees, enables the federal workforce to purchase office supplies and equipment, book travel and pay for gas. The cards typically are used for purchases up to $10,000.

Sources within the GSA say Trump appointees at the agency, including acting Administrator Stephen Ehikian and Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum, the nation’s top procurement officer, came into their roles saying SmartPay and other government payment programs were rife with fraud or waste.

Yet both GOP and Democratic budget experts call this view inaccurate, saying SmartPay has implemented effective safeguards and monitoring tools.

SmartPay has been worth hundreds of millions of dollars in fees for the financial institutions that currently operate it, U.S. Bank and Citibank. The GSA will decide by year’s end whether to extend SmartPay with the current contract or to remake the program more fundamentally.

Ramp’s investors include some of Silicon Valley’s most powerful figures, such as Peter Thiel, the billionaire venture capitalist who provided crucial early support to Trump and spent millions on Vice President JD Vance’s Ohio Senate run. Other major backers include Keith Rabois of Khosla Ventures, who sits on Ramp’s board; Thrive Capital, founded by Joshua Kushner, the brother of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner; and 8VC, a firm run by Musk and Trump allies.

In late April, as the GSA received a flurry of business pitches on the SmartPay pilot program, Ramp’s CEO, Eric Glyman, and Rabois appeared at a high-profile conference in Washington that brings together tech entrepreneurs, lawmakers and other senior government officials.

During a livestreamed panel titled “First Principles for a Smarter, Leaner Government,” the pair touted Ramp as a transformational solution for government payments. Later, during an interview, Rabois pointed to the fact that SmartPay issues more charge cards than there are total government employees as evidence of fraud.

But SmartPay experts say this betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of how the program works. Employees are issued separate cards for different types of purchases and often hold multiple cards at once.

Rabois did not respond to questions from ProPublica on Friday. In his response for an earlier story, Rabois said he had “no involvement in any government-related initiatives for the company.”

In the oversight committee’s letter to the GSA, Connolly writes that “the Trump Administration’s false claims about the SmartPay program may be an attempt to discredit the program to provide a new, Trump-affiliated contractor with a lucrative contract.”

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COLLINSVILLE - The City of Collinsville is finishing up a mural to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Route 66. Located at the former Rich’s Tire Service building in uptown Collinsville, the “Welcome to Historic Uptown Collinsville” mural features several iconic scenes from the region. Caitlin Rice with the City of Collinsville expressed her appreciation for the new mural and what it means to the community. “It’s definitely drawn a lot of excitement for us,” Rice said. “We’re very lucky to be a part of it and getting some cool things for our community. It’s been fun.” The Great Rivers and Routes Tourism Bureau provided the city with a Route 66 grant to promote beautification and mark the centennial anniversary of the route, which will be celebrated in 2026. This grant will provide two murals, including the uptown Collinsville mural and a mural at Old Herald Brewery and Distillery. The uptown mural was designed in

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WASHINGTON — Hillary Kane learned on a Saturday morning in April that within days, she would lose AmeriCorps funding for two programs that match mentors with West Philadelphia high schoolers and first-generation college students — both vulnerable groups at risk of not completing diplomas and degrees. Kane, director of the Philadelphia Higher Education Network for […]

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ALTON - Alton Main Street is excited to launch another round of its Façade Improvement Grant Program. This initiative is designed to assist property and business owners in Downtown Alton with rehabilitating the facades of their buildings for the purpose of creating a positive visual impact, stimulating private investment, and complementing other community development efforts. Improvement projects that are eligible to receive the grant include, but are not limited to: storefronts, exterior painting, signage, awnings, accent lighting. A total of $5,000 is available to be awarded, and grants are required to have a 1:1 match. This program is being made possible by a generous sponsorship from Partner Engineering and Science, Inc.. The application deadline is Monday, June 9th. Interested property owners as well as tenants with owner’s permission are eligible for the program. In order to be eligible for the FIG Program, buildings must be located within the Alton Main Street

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