The Biden administration is diverting federal agencies’ limited resources to enhance voter registration among groups that typically vote Democrat in pivotal swing states, highlighted a congressional hearing Tuesday morning.
The House Committee on Small Business heard from four witnesses regarding the voter registration initiatives of the Small Business Administration. These efforts are rooted in President Biden’s Executive Order 14019, which directs federal agencies to focus on “underserved populations” for voter registration drives, as explained by Steward Whitson, senior director of federal affairs at the Foundation for Government Accountability.
The White House maintains that its use of federal agencies to encourage voter registration among majority-Democrat demographics is “bipartisan.” However, in the hearing, Rep. Pete Stauber, R-Colo., challenged that assertion.
“Around 91% of Michigan voters are already registered, with small business owners having a higher likelihood of voting than the general population,” Stauber said. “If the executive order aims to register voters nonpartisanly, why didn’t the SBA collaborate with states having lower voter registration than Michigan?”
Stauber further noted, “Our investigation shows that most SBA events occur in southern Michigan, primarily Democratic areas. This is clear to the American people.”
Nicknamed “Bidenbucks,” the order assigns voter registration tasks to various federal agencies, including the Department of Agriculture, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Department of Labor, according to Whitson.
Whitson testified that Biden’s “unethical and illegal” order might violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution, which delegates the time, manner, and place of election activities to the states.
Lisa Danetz, an advisor with Lisa Danetz Consulting and a witness for committee Democrats, strongly refuted Whitson’s constitutional concerns. She argued that Biden’s order fulfills the duties outlined in the National Voting Rights Act, insisting that the administration’s voter registration efforts are inherently nonpartisan, despite Republican claims that these efforts target Democrat-leaning localities and demographics.
A federal case in Pennsylvania addresses this issue, asserting that Biden’s executive order infringes on a state’s constitutional right to conduct elections without federal interference.
“If they genuinely wanted to assist small businesses, they would have gone to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, home to more small businesses per capita,” Stauber said. “But that’s Republican territory. This is obviously political.”
The hearing also exposed significant administrative overreach in funding these get-out-the-vote activities. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., questioned Whitson about the constitutionality of this spending. Whitson responded that the administration is unlawfully spending money without congressional approval.
Elaine Parker, president of the Job Creators Network Foundation, criticized the SBA’s involvement in voter activities, stating it strayed sharply from its mission: “Small business owners haven’t expressed this as a concern,” Parker said. “They discuss credit crunches, inflation, and regulatory burdens, not voter registration.”
Stauber reinforced this viewpoint.
“No small business owner has ever said that increasing voter registration would solve their business challenges,” Stauber said. “They typically mention inflation, workforce issues, and excessive regulations, all of which have worsened under the current administration.”
Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales testified that he would never collaborate with the SBA on any election-related issues, limiting the cooperation to matters related to small businesses. The Indiana state department oversees business registrations and voter registration within the state.
Morales conducts extensive voter registration efforts in Indiana independently, visiting all 92 counties with his team and operating booths at local fairs and events.
“It’s frankly un-American for the SBA to transform itself into an extension of the Biden campaign under the pretense of ‘small business outreach’ targeting swing state voters,” stated Rep. Tracey Mann, R-Kan.
