(Headline USA) House Republicans issued a subpoena to a key Biden administration agency this week over its efforts to register voters in Michigan.
The House Committee on Small Business launched an investigation into President Joe Biden’s Small Business Administration earlier this year after the SBA released a memorandum of understanding (MOU) designating itself as a voter-registration agency in Michigan.
“Protecting and strengthening our democracy is critical to our economic success and a core goal of the Biden–Harris administration,” SBA Administrator Isabel Casilla Guzman claimed in a statement in March.
It was unclear if the move was connected with Biden’s controversial Executive Order 14019, a secretive initiative to convert many of the execuvite branch’s nonpartisan agencies into de-facto arms of the Democratic campaign through dubious voter initiatives that had no relationship with their function.
The SBA revealed it would encourage voter registration in the critical swing state by “meeting [small business owners] where they are—on our website and at our small business outreach events.”
The program also was expected to include “training” for “all personnel conducting [voter registration] activities,” which would cover “information on who is eligible to register to vote” and “instructions on how to refer individuals to register to vote online.”
House Republicans argued the program was “unconstitutional” and an improper use of taxpayer funds. They requested documentation earlier this year on whether the SBA would be using federal funds to support the program, but still have not received all of the relevant materials.
“The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate legislative solutions to the SBA’s use of federal funds to conduct voter registration activities,” the House committee said in its subpoena, according to Fox News.
“Unfortunately, the SBA has produced only a small portion of the documents and communications that the committee has requested and has done so slowly and after multiple attempts by the committee to obtain any relevant information,” it said.
The committee has asked for “every email and official correspondence between the SBA and businesses related to this MOU; and every email and official correspondence between the SBA and other government agencies related to this MOU,” as well as “the calendars and travel itineraries for 11 identified SBA employees and any trip summaries, transcripts, or any related documents memorializing reimbursements for the travel and trips.”
