*By Christian Smith*
As the partial federal government shutdown enters enters its 27th day, American businesses are beginning to feel the strain.
For Fat Brands Inc. ($FAT) ー which owns a number of fast food brands Fatburger, among them ー the consequences of the shutdown are slowly trickling up to corporate, but president and CEO Andy Wiederhorn said franchisees are thus far bearing the brunt of the shutdown.
"I think it's really much harder on the franchise operators because they're trying to build stores they've already started to build, or they've got a lease signed up and now they need their loan to get going for construction," Wiederhorn said Wednesday in an interview with Cheddar.
With the Small Business Administration closed, small businesses are unable to access SBA-backed loans. The SBA usually manages over 300 loans each day, which [The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/01/11/congresswoman-calls-trump-restart-small-business-lending-level-anxiety-is-unprecedented/?utm_term=.f50572777f74) reported amounts to roughly $200 million worth of loans for small and midsize businesses.
Small business owners in need of capital during the shutdown must turn to other sources of funding, such as non-SBA-backed loans, which generally come with higher interest rates.
But Wiederhorn noted that every sector of business ー even the major players ー is experiencing negative side effects.
"It's affecting everybody, not just small business, but large business," he said. "It's really very difficult."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/fat-brands-inc-ceo-explains-how-the-government-shutdown-is-impacting-americas-small-businesses).
Speaking early Monday at a campaign rally in Opa-locka, Florida, Trump expressed frustration that the surging cases of a virus that has killed more than 231,000 people in the United States remains in the news, sparking chants of “Fire Fauci” from his supporters.
While snapping a selfie with a sealed envelope is perfectly legal, memorializing your marked ballot with a photo can be against the law in some states.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
Former White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, joined Cheddar to discuss Biden versus Trump in the 2020 election.
More than 9 million ballots have been cast as of Friday in the nation’s second most-populous state, exceeding the 8.9 million cast in 2016,
Each state has different rules on when it's allowed to start counting early ballots. That is going to produce results coming in at very different times — perhaps days or even weeks after Election Day.
Following today's big tech hearing, former Virginia Senator Barbara Comstock, joined Cheddar to discuss the government's role in regulating the industry and why it is bad for business.
The CEOs of Twitter, Facebook and Google have received a hectoring from Republicans at a Senate hearing for alleged anti-conservative bias in the companies’ social media platforms. And
Cheddar's Megan Pratz was serving as Vice President Mike Pence's pool reporter as news broke that members of his team tested positive for the coronavirus.
Big tech CEOs are gearing up to testify in Washington as lawmakers prepare to take action on tech liability. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) joined Cheddar to discuss.
