House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-WI) said Thursday he has subpoenaed the Biden administration for documents on President Joe Biden’s March 2021 executive order (EO) to federal agencies to partner with local election officials, which he said is an attempt to “tilt the scales ahead of 2024.”
Steil posted on X Thursday:
Biden’s Voting Access Executive Order is the administration’s latest scheme to tilt the scales ahead of 2024.
I’ve subpoenaed the Biden admin for documents related to EO 14019 as Congress did NOT appropriate taxpayer funds for partisan activities.
Steil has subpoenaed 15 cabinet members for documents related to the EO, titled “Executive Order on Promoting Access to Voting,” which directs federal agencies to promote access to voting through the use of federal agency resources.
Bryan Steil (R-WI), chairman of the Committee on House Administration, displays a large photo of an unlocked election ballot drop box in Washington, during a hearing about noncitizen voting in U.S. elections. on Capitol Hill, May 16, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
“Evidence already shows that the Executive Order partners federal employees with partisan advocates to register voters ahead of the 2024 elections,” according to the committee, which has been investigating the EO since shortly after it was announced. The committee said Steil first requested the documents on May 15, and to date, has not received any materials in return.
Steil said in a statement:
Elections are partisan, but our election administration should never be partisan. Allowing federal employees from the Biden Administration to flood election administration sites threatens election integrity and reduces Americans’ confidence.
This Executive Order is another attempt by the Biden Administration to tilt the scales ahead of 2024. I will continue working to provide transparency and accountability on this Administration’s latest scheme as Congress did not appropriate taxpayer funds for partisan activities.
The EO states that “executive departments and agencies should partner with State, local, Tribal, and territorial election officials to protect and promote the exercise of the right to vote, eliminate discrimination and other barriers to voting, and expand access to voter registration and accurate election information.”
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Steil subpoenaed secretaries of the Departments of Transportation, Agriculture, Interior, Treasury, State, Health and Human Services, Energy, Education, Defense, Commerce, Justice, Office of Management and Budget, Housing and Urban Development, and Labor.
Steil wrote to the secretaries of those departments:
The Committee has concerns about the implementation of E.O. 14019, particularly regarding its compatibility with provisions of the National Voter Registration Act (NRA) of 1993. Congress delegates to federal agencies specific functions and missions, which by law they are required to follow. Congress’s delegation of authority to HUD does not include using funds and resources to provide Americans with voter registration materials.
Moreover, E.O. 14019 requires every federal agency to submit a strategic plan outlining how the agency can promote voter registration and voter participation. Over the last few months, some agencies have taken actions that were likely outlined in their strategic plans. Examples include the Department of Education’s new federal work-study requirements, and the Small Business Administration’s entrance into a voter registration agreement with Michigan. Both of those actions and the actions of other agencies raise substantial questions and concerns, some of which may be answered by access to the strategic plans drafted by the agencies.
The committee is considering legislation that would repeal E.O. 14019 and require the agencies’ strategic plan to be submitted to Congress.
According to Fox News, who first reported the subpoenas, Senate Republicans, led by Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), have also demanded information on the EO. They asked the Biden administration for answers in November, but say they have been stonewalled.
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In April, a lawsuit challenging the executive order alleged it targeted key demographics to benefit the president’s political party and his own re-election, according to Fox News.
Tarren Bragdon, president and CEO of the Foundation for Government Accountability, which filed an amicus brief, told the outlet that “Team Biden is using their authority and resources to target welfare populations with a federally funded get-out-the-vote effort.”
“If they are allowed to fully execute their plan, it could swing the election outcome,” he said.
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