Rep. Gerald Connolly, ranking member of the U.S. House Oversight Committee, has launched an investigation into whether fintech startup Ramp is receiving preferential treatment in its pursuit of a $25 million government contract.

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Connolly sent a letter to General Services Administration (GSA) Acting Administrator Stephen Ehikian requesting documents and information related to GSA’s plans to award Ramp a pilot program contract. Concerns center on Ramp’s lack of federal contracting experience and its investors, which include prominent Trump supporters such as Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Keith Rabois of Khosla Ventures, and Joe Lonsdale of 8VC.

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The investigation seeks details on all communications between GSA officials and Ramp representatives. Currently, Citibank and US Bank provide credit cards for the government’s $700 billion SmartPay expense card program.

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Ramp’s head of communications, Lindsay McKinley, stated the company is “competing in a standard procurement process for a SmartPay pilot program based on the strength of our solution.” However, Connolly alleges Ramp contacted payment industry entities about government payment processing requirements before the contract request for information was public.

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Ramp declined to comment on the investigation. The startup recently doubled its valuation to $13 billion after raising over $1 billion in equity since its 2019 founding.

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