{"id":2292428,"date":"2024-07-11T06:44:02","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T10:44:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-warns-bidenbucks-agencies-walks-back-cisa-partnership\/"},"modified":"2024-07-11T06:48:07","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T10:48:07","slug":"in-warns-bidenbucks-agencies-walks-back-cisa-partnership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-warns-bidenbucks-agencies-walks-back-cisa-partnership\/","title":{"rendered":"IN Warns &#8216;Bidenbucks&#8217; Agencies, Walks Back CISA &#8216;Partnership&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fin-warns-bidenbucks-agencies-walks-back-cisa-partnership%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2292428&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Indiana Secretary\u200d of\u2062 State Diego\u2063 Morales is taking a stand against \u200cfederal overreach by threatening legal action against federal agencies following President Joe Biden&#8217;s &#8220;Bidenbucks&#8221; order if they operate unauthorized election programs in the state. Morales stated that election integrity \u200dis his top priority and sent a letter directing agencies\u2064 to refrain from conducting taxpayer-funded voter \u2063registration\u2062 and get-out-the-vote activities designed to benefit Democrats. This move comes in response to President Biden&#8217;s executive\u200c order directing federal\u2063 agencies to engage in \u2064election activity, which Morales \u2062believes goes \u200bagainst state law. Morales is also pushing back against \u200dfederal agencies such as the Small Business Administration conducting voter registration drives, stating that they \u2064are not authorized by Congress and distract \u200cfrom their \u200bcore \u200cmission. He has emphasized the importance of protecting \u2063the integrity\u200c of elections through legislation and cooperation with\u200c state and federal agencies. Morales has made it clear that federal agencies should stick to their own missions and not get involved in elections.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales is threatening legal action if federal agencies following President Joe Biden\u2019s \u201cBidenbucks\u201d order operate unauthorized election programs in the state. Morales said this is a part of his pushback against federal overreach. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI already talked to the attorney general, and he has the highest authority in our state. He will obviously enforce that,\u201d Morales said in an interview with The Federalist, adding that election integrity is his \u201ctop priority.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On July 2, Morales sent a <a href=\"https:\/\/events.in.gov\/event\/secretary-morales-directs-federal-agencies-to-discontinue-any-unauthorized-involvement-in-indiana-elections\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">letter<\/a> directing agencies to refrain from conducting taxpayer-funded voter registration and get-out-the-vote activities designed to benefit Democrats. Morales\u2019 Communications Director Lindsey Eaton told The Federalist that he would refer any violations of the order to the attorney general\u2019s office. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen they start getting involved in elections, whether it\u2019s CISA or the SBA [Small Business Administration] or any other federal government, that\u2019s a no for me,\u201d Morales said. It\u2019s a shift in tone from when the Republican secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/events.in.gov\/event\/secretary-morales-meets-with-cybersecurity-and-infrastructure-security-agency-cisa-director-collaboration-on-election-safety-efforts?utm_campaign=widget&#038;utm_medium=widget&#038;utm_source=State+of+Indiana\">met<\/a> with the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in May and issued a positive press release touting the meeting and the secretary\u2019s \u201cCollaboration on Election Safety Efforts\u201d with \u201clocal, state, and federal agencies.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018Not Permitted In Indiana\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/presidential-actions\/2021\/03\/07\/executive-order-on-promoting-access-to-voting\/\">issued<\/a> an executive order in 2021 <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/04\/22\/why-west-virginias-secretary-of-state-wont-follow-bidens-illegal-directives-federalizing-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">directing<\/a> federal agencies to register voters and push get-out-the-vote measures that are calibrated to target left-leaning voters. It also enables the government to work with approved \u201cthird party\u201d groups to these ends. When federal agencies carry out this order, they circumvent state governments, according to Morales\u2019 office. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe warning letter comes in response to a broad executive order from President Biden directing federal agencies to engage in election activity, which would be contrary to state law as well as Congressional authorization and funding,\u201d\u00a0reads a press <a href=\"https:\/\/events.in.gov\/event\/secretary-morales-directs-federal-agencies-to-discontinue-any-unauthorized-involvement-in-indiana-elections\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">release<\/a> from Morales\u2019 office. \u201cVoter registration and other election activity is not permitted in Indiana without state authorization.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Biden\u2019s election order has taken the nickname \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/13\/doj-is-using-bidenbucks-to-encourage-illegals-and-felons-to-vote-says-mississippi-secretary-of-state\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bidenbucks<\/a>,\u201d a nod to when Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/06\/09\/study-team-zuckerberg-masking-heavily-pro-democrat-tilt-of-2020-election-zuck-bucks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">funneled<\/a> hundreds of millions of dollars in \u201cZuckbucks\u201d to election officials, boosting Democrat turnout in the 2020 election. Many Republican states have <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/09\/26\/wisconsin-republicans-introduce-measures-to-withdraw-state-from-eric-ban-zuckbucks-in-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">addressed<\/a> \u201cZuckbucks\u201d by banning private funding of elections. <\/p>\n<div>\n<p>In response to Biden\u2019s executive order, which functions <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.house.gov\/meetings\/SM\/SM00\/20240604\/117375\/HHRG-118-SM00-Wstate-WhitsonS-20240604-U1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">similarly<\/a> to \u201cZuckbucks\u201d but uses taxpayer dollars, some states are protecting the integrity of their elections by <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/04\/22\/why-west-virginias-secretary-of-state-wont-follow-bidens-illegal-directives-federalizing-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">asserting<\/a> their jurisdiction under Article I, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution. Eaton said Morales is \u201csending this letter to every federal agency office in Indiana\u201d as a \u201cpreemptive measure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat we\u2019ve been doing is not only pushing back, but testifying before Congress, sending out letters against the federal government, and we\u2019re passing good legislation with House Bill 1264, and House Bill 1334, in order to put in some great safeguards to protect elections,\u201d Morales told The Federalist.<\/p>\n<p>Among other things, <a href=\"https:\/\/iga.in.gov\/legislative\/2024\/bills\/house\/1264\/details\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">HB 1264<\/a> cracks down on voter registrations with nonresidential addresses and those for which there is evidence that a registrant is not a citizen (such as juror disqualification). <a href=\"https:\/\/iga.in.gov\/legislative\/2023\/bills\/house\/1334\/details\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">HB 1334<\/a> requires that absentee ballots must be requested and only provided with proper identification.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>\u2018Contrary to State Law\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Voter registration drives like those the federal Small Business Administration has conducted in neighboring Michigan fall outside of the agency\u2019s authorized scope in the state, according to the press <a href=\"https:\/\/events.in.gov\/event\/secretary-morales-directs-federal-agencies-to-discontinue-any-unauthorized-involvement-in-indiana-elections\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">release<\/a> from Morales\u2019 office. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cVoter registration drives orchestrated by the Small Business Administration, though well-meaning, were not authorized by Congress, contrary to state law, and a distraction from the agency\u2019s core mission of providing assistance and loans to small businesses,\u201d the release reads.<\/p>\n<p>Morales testified to the U.S. House of Representatives\u2019 Small Business Committee June 4, citing state law and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/crt\/national-voter-registration-act-1993-nvra\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">National Voter Registration Act<\/a> of 1993 to inform them the SBA would be stepping outside of its role.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGovernment agencies must be designated by the state as \u2018designated voter registration service agencies\u2019 to lawfully engage in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/arizona-election-worker-details-voter-fraud-investigation\/\" title=\"Arizona Election Worker Details Voter Fraud Investigation\">voter registration activities<\/a>,\u201d Morales <a href=\"https:\/\/democrats-smallbusiness.house.gov\/uploadedfiles\/06-04-24_the_hon._morales_testimony.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">testified<\/a>. \u201cThe SBA is not, at either the president\u2019s directive, or its own initiative, eligible to act as a voter service agency in Indiana.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Eaton said Morales\u2019 letter arrives before any known <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bombshell-doj-conceals-records-about-bidens-use-of-federal-agencies-to-influence-elections\/\" title=\"Bombshell: DOJ Conceals Records About Biden\u2019s Use Of Federal Agencies To Influence Elections\">federal voter registration<\/a> in Indiana, and was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sba.gov\/article\/2024\/03\/19\/sba-administrator-guzman-announces-agencys-first-ever-voter-registration-agreement-michigan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">spurred<\/a> by SBA\u2019s memorandum of understanding with neighboring Michigan. Last week\u2019s press release said that while \u201cBidenbucks\u201d agencies are directed to \u201cimmediately discontinue such action and contact\u201d Morales\u2019 office, he is \u201copen to coordinating with federal agencies, subject to compliance with federal and state law.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Morales said his office\u2019s Business Services Division may sometimes work with the SBA in things like loans for Indiana businesses, but federal agencies should stick to their own missions. Morales made clear he would not work with the SBA in elections. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would not sign an MOU,\u201d Morales said to The Federalist. \u201cI\u2019m not going to work with them when it comes to elections, because they have no business to get involved in elections.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>What About CISA?<\/h2>\n<p>In May, Morales <a href=\"https:\/\/events.in.gov\/event\/secretary-morales-meets-with-cybersecurity-and-infrastructure-security-agency-cisa-director-collaboration-on-election-safety-efforts?utm_campaign=widget&#038;utm_medium=widget&#038;utm_source=State+of+Indiana\">met<\/a> with Jen Easterly, director of CISA, the federal government\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/05\/why-cisas-censorship-and-election-interference-work-is-the-most-insidious-attack-on-american-democracy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">nerve center<\/a>\u201d of censorship operations. CISA has <a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-judiciary.house.gov\/files\/evo-media-document\/cisa-staff-report6-26-23.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">worked<\/a> with Big Tech corporations to silence Americans since 2020. A congressional <a href=\"https:\/\/judiciary.house.gov\/sites\/evo-subsites\/republicans-judiciary.house.gov\/files\/evo-media-document\/cisa-staff-report6-26-23.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">report<\/a> from last fall found it had become a \u201cdomestic intelligence and speech-police agency\u201d whose behavior was \u201cunconstitutional.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>In a press release at the time, Morales\u2019 office <a href=\"https:\/\/events.in.gov\/event\/secretary-morales-meets-with-cybersecurity-and-infrastructure-security-agency-cisa-director-collaboration-on-election-safety-efforts?utm_campaign=widget&#038;utm_medium=widget&#038;utm_source=State+of+Indiana\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> partnering with different agencies is \u201ccrucial to protecting the integrity of elections and increasing voter confidence.\u201d For her part, Easterly said she would \u201clook forward to our continued partnership as we work together to ensure the security and resilience of our election infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the time, Morales\u2019 office <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/05\/22\/why-is-indianas-secretary-of-state-partnering-with-nerve-center-of-federal-censorship\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">declined<\/a> The Federalist\u2019s request for comment on the meeting. On Tuesday, Morales said CISA reached out to his office for a meeting, so he met to listen and be diplomatic. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just listen. That doesn\u2019t mean that I\u2019m going to do what they say or what they want. In fact, when I met with them last time, I asked them tough questions,\u201d Morales told The Federalist. \u201cAs far as CISA goes, I know who they are, I know what they are, but my job as secretary of state is to listen and grill them with questions and ask them, \u2018You\u2019re not going to interfere in elections?&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>When The Federalist followed up to ask for more specifics about the \u201ctough questions\u201d Morales asked, Eaton said Morales had \u201canswered your questions\u201d and that he \u201cwill always push back against federal overreach on any level.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Morales said The Federalist\u2019s previous coverage of his meeting with CISA officials was \u201cmisleading.\u201d When asked for specific inaccuracies, Eaton did not point out any. Morales asked that this article correct past <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/05\/22\/why-is-indianas-secretary-of-state-partnering-with-nerve-center-of-federal-censorship\/\">coverage<\/a> to communicate that he is a \u201chard conservative\u201d and a \u201cprotector of our elections.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<hr>\n<p>      Logan Washburn is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-clark-county-keeps-commercial-addresses-on-voter-rolls\/\" title=\"Lawsuit: Clark County Keeps Commercial Addresses On Voter Rolls\">staff writer covering election integrity<\/a>. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo&#8217;s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan is originally from Central Oregon but now lives in rural Michigan.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales is warning of legal action against federal agencies that implement unauthorized election programs in the state following President Joe Biden&#8217;s &#8220;Bidenbucks&#8221; order. Morales emphasized that election integrity is his top priority and that he will enforce state laws with the help of the attorney general. He sent a letter to agencies instructing them to refrain from conducting voter registration and get-out-the-vote activities funded by taxpayers, which he believes are designed to benefit Democrats. Morales believes that federal agencies engaging in election activities are overstepping their bounds and circumventing state governments. He has introduced legislation to safeguard elections and is pushing back against federal overreach<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":507,"featured_media":2292429,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Diego_Morales_addressing_CPAC_Hungary_2023.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[7802,33530,33087,6964,9342],"class_list":["post-2292428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-agencies","tag-bidenbucks","tag-cisa","tag-in","tag-partnership"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Diego_Morales_addressing_CPAC_Hungary_2023.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2292428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/507"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2292428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2292428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2292429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2292428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2292428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2292428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}