GOP committee demands answers on Biden taxpayer push to register voters in key swing state: 'Inconceivable''

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FIRST ON FOX: A Republican-led House committee is demanding answers from the Biden administration over concerns that the Small Business Administration is funneling resources to a key swing state to register voters in a move they say could be unconstitutional. 

"On March 19, 2024, the SBA announced a new voter registration Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Michigan Department of State," a letter from the Republican led Committee on Small Business wrote to Biden’s Small Business Administration this week.

"The Committee is concerned about the lack of constitutional and statutory authority allowing the SBA to engage in activities beyond its mission, including voting access and registration activities. It appears that this is an attempt to improperly involve the federal government in America’s electoral processes. Elections are for the American people to engage in, not for federal agencies to interfere with during an election year."

The letter outlines concerns, following a 2021 executive order from Biden directing federal agencies to promote "access to voting," that the administration is using the government agency to register votes in a swing state that many believe will be one of the states the November election hinges upon.

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President Biden salutes while arriving during an event in the Indian Treaty Room of the White House on Nov. 27, 2023. (Michael Reynolds/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In March of this year, the SBA announced a memorandum of understanding with the Michigan Department of State to "promote civic engagement and voter registration in Michigan" that it called the "first-of-its-kind collaboration" and which will run through Jan. 1, 2036.

In a press release, SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman said the partnership "will help connect Michiganders to vital voter registration information from the State of Michigan so that more small business owners can exercise their right to vote."

"The SBA was created to ‘to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns; preserve free competitive enterprise; and maintain and strengthen the overall economy of our nation,’" the committee wrote, adding that the MOU has "nothing to do with the SBA’s mission and the legal duties its charged to fulfill. Small businesses are suffering from crippling inflation, overburdensome regulations, and U.S. small business optimism is at the lowest level in months." 

"It is unacceptable for the SBA to divert resources from serving small businesses so it can register voters in Michigan."

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The letter goes on to say that multiple committee members have "serious concerns" about the timing of the Biden administration’s plan and the "political nature of this MOU."

"It is inconceivable why Michigan – a state with a registered voting population above the national average – is where SBA found a need to use taxpayer resources to register more Michigan voters," the letter states. "Additionally, the timing of this MOU’s announcement is suspicious. The SBA made this announcement while President Biden’s campaign directs its attention toward Michigan, a key battleground state for his re-election efforts." 

"The SBA involving itself in the election process of a battleground state during an election year is an insult to struggling small business owners across America. Perhaps this MOU is a ‘first of its kind collaboration for the SBA’ because it is inconsistent with federal law, has nothing to do with the SBA’s stated mission, and ignores the harsh realities small businesses face under the Biden Administration."

Congressman Roger Williams, R-Texas, chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, said in a statement that the SBA’s efforts could possibly violate the Constitution. 

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Rep. Roger Williams outside a House Republican Conference election meeting in Longworth Building on Oct. 24, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

"The SBA’s MOU with the Michigan Department of State is improper, inappropriate, and perhaps, unconstitutional," Williams said. 

"The SBA was created for one reason: to assist our nation’s small businesses. It has no reason whatsoever to involve itself in political and potentially electioneering activities. Moreover, the fact the SBA would divert resources away from Main Street so it can focus on voter registration in a battleground state is an affront to our job creators, especially for all they do for our communities and economy. Americans have a right to know what exactly is going on here, and this Committee plans on getting answers."

The letter argues that the "American people deserve to know" why the SBA is registering voters in Michigan rather than allocate all of its focus to the small businesses nationwide that currently "struggle to survive under the Biden administration’s policies." Additionally, the committee is asking Guzman to provide documents and information related to a series of questions by April 18.

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The letter asks for "all communications" between and among SBA personnel regarding the 2021 executive order and/or the MOU from March 10, 2021, to the present and all communications "between SBA personnel and third parties, including but not limited to small business owners, associations, non-profits, and SBA resource partners in the State of Michigan, regarding E.O. 14019, and/or the MOU, from March 10, 2021, to present."

The committee also seeks a "full" and "unredacted copy" of the MOU in question as well as an unredacted copy of implementation plans related to that MOU and drafts of those plans submitted to the White House.

The Biden executive order in 2021 instructing federal agencies to register voters to combat racism has drawn criticism from states across the country, including recently in Mississippi.

Small Business Administration building (U.S. Government Accountability Office)

Last month, the state's Republican Secretary of State Michael Watson sent a letter to Biden's Department of Justice demanding they stop efforts to register voters in federal prisons due to concerns that illegal immigrants and ineligible felons are being registered.

"This serves as another example of the Biden administration’s unconstitutional efforts to weaponize every federal agency into voter registration and GOTV arms of the Democratic Party," Watson told Fox News Digital this week.

"I applaud Chairman Williams’ efforts to dig in and get answers for the American people, and pledge to continue my efforts to do the same for Mississippians."

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Jason Snead, Honest Elections Project executive director, also told Fox News Digital he applauds the committee's efforts investigating this unprecedented agreement."

"This is the latest example of the Biden Administration’s ongoing efforts to manipulate the levers of the federal government for political advantage," Snead said.

"With Executive Order 14019, President Biden has ordered every federal agency to collaborate with liberal organizations to mobilize voters. The Administration is even using taxpayers’ dollars to pay college students to turn out voters. This program raises serious concerns about the misuse and abuse of federal agencies for political gain, and the public deserves answers."

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Small Business Administration for comment but did not receive a response.