‘Electioneering’: Experts, Lawmakers Denounce Biden’s Taxpayer-Funded Michigan Voter Drive

In the wake of a congressional hearing on Tuesday that delved into the ways in which the Small Business Administration (SBA) under President Joe Biden has appeared to engage in electioneering, lawmakers and experts are pointing out the “lawless” nature of the practice as the November elections approach.

The hearing, conducted by the House Committee on Small Business, sought to expose how taxpayer funds are being used by the SBA for voter registration efforts in violation of federal law.

In March 2021, Biden signed an executive order stating that federal agencies “shall evaluate ways” to “promote voter registration and voter participation,” including “soliciting and facilitating approved, nonpartisan third-party organizations and State officials to provide voter registration services on agency premises.” As has since been uncovered, this EO has led to the SBA signing official agreements with the Michigan Department of State (MDOS) to fund voter registration efforts.

But as GOP lawmakers are highlighting, it just so happens that Michigan is a key battleground state that will play a vital role in electing the next president in November.

During the hearing, Committee Chairman Roger Williams (R-Texas) pointed out that the SBA “entangled itself in electioneering activities that not only lack a constitutional basis, but also betray the trust and purpose for which the Agency was established.” He went on to note that instead of pursuing policies that help small businesses, the SBA has “decided to dedicate their staff’s time and resources to register voters in a key swing seat ahead of the 2024 election.”

Stewart Whitson, senior director of Federal Affairs at the Foundation for Government Accountability, further detailed the likely underlying purpose behind the SBA’s efforts in Michigan. “The worry is that this isn’t about registering small business owners across the state of Michigan, but rather, this is about using generous business startup and other grants to lure targeted groups of voters, those the Left believes are more likely to vote for the current president, to SBA’s website and to in-person outreach events hosted in Democratic strongholds, all to help register and mobilize these voters ahead of the 2024 election,” he stated.

Rep. Pete Stauber (R-Minn.) also noted how the SBA suspiciously concentrated its voter registration efforts in southern Michigan instead of the upper peninsula, where there are more small businesses per capita. “But you know what? That’s red country, that’s Republicans up there,” he observed. “This is clearly for political purposes, and it’s unconscionable that the American people — our taxpayer money is going towards this.”

Ken Blackwell, FRC Action’s special advisor for Election Integrity, concurred with Stauber’s assessment during Wednesday’s edition of “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins.” “[This hearing] is an attempt by the legislature, in this case, Congress, to put a stop to this illegal, inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars for partisan political purposes and in total rejection of a uniform application of taxpayer dollars.”

“[It’s] lawlessness,” Blackwell, who formerly served as the Secretary of State for the State of Ohio, underscored. “It’s lawlessness without question.”

Blackwell further insisted that the conservative electorate must respond by being fully committed to the election process ahead of November. “We need to be engaged. That means that we have to register to vote. … We have to vote early, and we have to vote on Election Day. We have to make sure that whenever we can stay within the lines of what is legal, we do … and we do better than the other side.”

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins agreed, while also stressing the importance of early voting. “[W]e saw a great example of this in Arizona in the midterm election where the Democrats did early voting by mail and other means. Republicans waited until the day of the election, and all of a sudden there was a problem with machines. The lines got long, people got tired, they went home, and by a small margin, the Republicans lost. We need to be banking those votes prior to Election Day.”

Blackwell concluded by urging an all-hands-on deck approach to voter registration. “[W]e still have a lot of voters who are concerned, but who are not registered and who are not engaged. And that’s why it is so important that we go through our churches. We do whatever we can to get people registered, period. And then once they’re registered, get them to vote.”