“There is a complete double standard,” said Eli B. Karabell, a political consultant in St. Louis who sought to apply for an $87,000 S.B.A. loan for his business, but was informed by his bank he was ineligible.

Mr. Karabell had to lay off three employees, according to a lawsuit the American Association of Political Consultants filed against the S.B.A. seeking to overturn the ban on loans to political businesses as an infringement on free speech.

“It is completely wrong and completely reprehensible for the government to be subsidizing these nonprofits, but our real Main Street, small-town businesses are not getting this money,” Mr. Karabell said.

Defenders note that the provision in the stimulus bill paving the way for S.B.A. loans to nonprofits applies to all groups registered under a section of the tax code — 501(c)(3) — that covers churches and other religious institutions, as well as charities and educational entities, most of which rely largely on donations. Some of those entities play important roles in communities across the country and employ significant numbers of people, some of whom might be out of a job if fund-raising declines as donors feel the pinch of the economic collapse.

While the tax code bans those groups from endorsing candidates or engaging in other partisan political activity, they are allowed to spend money advocating policy positions at the heart of political fights. And many of the most active political organizations maintain 501(c)(3) foundation arms, including FreedomWorks, which plans to use its FreedomWorks Foundation to publicize ideas on how to restart the economy. Its larger political arm is helping organize protests of state and local restrictions on business and travel intended to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

The restrictions forced the cancellation of FreedomWorks’ annual fund-raiser and led to a dip in donations. The group applied for the S.B.A. loan as one potential option to avoid cuts, Mr. Brandon said.

Liberty Counsel, which is leading a campaign to reopen churches next week, worked with allies on Capitol Hill to push for the inclusion of nonprofit groups in the S.B.A. section of the stimulus bill, according to Mat Staver, the group’s chairman.