NEW YORK — The government is approaching the $349 billion lending limit on its Paycheck Protection Program that is funneling relief money to small businesses.

The Small Business Administration says that as of Wednesday afternoon, it had approved more than 1.4 million loans totaling more than $305 billion — up more than $50 billion since Monday. The Trump administration has asked Congress, which set the original ceiling, for another $250 billion for the program. However, that request has stalled in the Senate.

A breakdown of the loans on the SBA website showed that as of Monday, the average loan size was $239,152, and 70 percent of the loans were for $150,000 and under— an amount likely sought by very small companies. At that point, loans worth $247.5 billion had been approved.

Construction firms were approved for the largest share of the loans, nearly 14 percent, or $34 billion.