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Trump said McMahon shares his vision of decreasing “burdensome regulations that are hurting our middle-class workers and small businesses.”

“As an entrepreneur myself, I have shared the experiences of our nation’s small business owners and will do my best to advocate on their behalf,” McMahon, 68, said in a statement. “My husband and I built our business from scratch, building it to a publicly traded global enterprise with more than 800 employees.”

The SBA, best known for the small business loans it makes and the disaster aid it provides to companies and entrepreneurs, is also tasked with monitoring government officials’ compliances with contract laws. Its budget is generally under $1 billion.

McMahon’s two Democratic Senate opponents had kind words for their former foe.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal called her “a person of serious accomplishment and ability” who can help small businesses as long as “she is not hamstrung by the dangerous economic policies espoused by other Trump-nominated Cabinet officials.” Meanwhile, Sen. Chris Murphy called McMahon a “talented and experienced businessperson” who helped shepherd WWE from an idea into a successful business.

“Of course, I know firsthand what a fierce fighter Linda McMahon is, and though we haven’t always seen eye to eye, I have confidence she’ll bring that fight to the SBA on behalf of Connecticut small businesses,” he said.

Some national small business advocates said they had little experience with McMahon but hoped she would understand the needs of small companies. Connecticut members of the National Federation of Independent Business had supported McMahon when she ran for Senate, NFIB spokesman Jack Mozloom said.