{"id":2299481,"date":"2024-07-18T14:15:02","date_gmt":"2024-07-18T18:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republicans-threaten-to-subpoena-biden-administration-over-voter-outreach-program-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-07-18T14:16:20","modified_gmt":"2024-07-18T18:16:20","slug":"republicans-are-considering-subpoenaing-the-biden-administration-for-voter-outreach-program-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republicans-are-considering-subpoenaing-the-biden-administration-for-voter-outreach-program-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Republicans are considering subpoenaing the Biden administration for voter outreach program"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/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%2Frepublicans-are-considering-subpoenaing-the-biden-administration-for-voter-outreach-program-2%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=2299481&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>Republican leaders in the House \u2062and Senate Small Business committees are \u2064threatening to subpoena the Small Business Administration \u200bfor \u200cinformation on its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-bill-banning-zuckbucks-in-virginia-elections-is-headed-to-gov-glenn-youngkins-desk\/\" title=\"A Bill Banning Zuckbucks In Virginia Elections Is Headed To Gov. Glenn Youngkin\u2019s Desk\">voter registration program<\/a> with\u2063 Michigan. They have accused the program of being politically motivated and are seeking all communications related\u200b to the program. The lawmakers are \u2064questioning the \u2062agency&#8217;s \u200dengagement in voter access \u2063and have set a\u200d deadline for the information to be \u2063provided. \u200dIf the information is not provided, they are threatening to \u2063subpoena the agency. The investigation into the\u200d program is becoming more\u2062 pressing as the 2024\u200d election approaches.  <\/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<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Congressional Republicans threaten to subpoena Biden administration over swing-state voter outreach program<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1700500\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>EXCLUSIVE &mdash;<\/strong>&nbsp;Republican leaders on the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/house-of-representatives\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">House<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/senate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Senate<\/a>&nbsp;Small Business committees are threatening to subpoena the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/small-business-administration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Small Business Administration<\/a> for information on its voter registration program with&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/michigan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Michigan<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX), chairman of the House committee, and Sen.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/joni-ernst\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Joni Ernst<\/a>&nbsp;(R-IA) called the agreement &ldquo;politically motivated&rdquo; in a letter sent to SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>In the letter, exclusively obtained by the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, Williams and Ernst asked Guzman to provide all communications between SBA employees,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/small-business\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">small business<\/a>&nbsp;owners, and politicians in Michigan over the &ldquo;Memorandum of Understanding with the State of Michigan.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The SBA and Michigan agreed to the Memorandum of Understanding in March, which established a voter access program that agency officials said would &ldquo;promote civic engagement and voter registration in Michigan.&rdquo; Guzman said the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-govt-agency-subpoenaed-over-alleged-effort-to-register-democrat-voters-in-key-swing-state\/\" title=\"Federal Agency Subpoenaed for Alleged Attempt to Register Democrat Voters in Key Swing State\">voter registration collaboration<\/a> would &ldquo;help connect Michiganders to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bidenbucks-tentacles-expand-as-judge-shuts-down-lawsuit\/\" title=\"Bidenbucks&#039; Influence Grows Following Lawsuit Shutdown\">vital voter registration information<\/a> from the State of Michigan so that more small business owners can exercise their right to vote.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>However, Republicans have blasted this outreach program as a political ploy to garner support for President Joe Biden in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/poll-state-republicans-lead-democrats-by-six-points-on-generic-ballot\/\" title=\"Poll: State Republicans Lead Democrats by Six Points on Generic Ballot\">crucial battleground state<\/a> that could decide who takes the White House in November.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Isabella Casillas Guzman, administrator of the Small Business Administration, appears before the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The lawmakers are asking the SBA to provide the requested communications, as well as evidence as to whether the agency engaged in voter access prior to the program&rsquo;s announcement and whether the SBA or Michigan initiated the program, by July 29. If it is not provided, the committees are threatening to subpoena the agency.<\/p>\n<p>The letter signed by Ernst and Williams details months of separate attempts by both committees to conduct oversight over the SBA&rsquo;s Michigan program, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/2995066\/biden-administration-subpoena-inappropriate-swing-state-voter-registration-push\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>including a subpoena<\/a> sent in May to two high-ranking SBA officials, special adviser Tyler Robinson and chief of staff Arthur Plews, for refusal to comply with the investigation into &ldquo;potential electioneering activities.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;For the entirety of this Congress, the SBA has stonewalled every investigation we have conducted,&rdquo; Williams said in a statement. &ldquo;The investigation into their electioneering efforts has been no different. It appears as if the SBA intends to delay our oversight into their electioneering efforts until after November when the damage has already been done. It is this Committee&rsquo;s job to hold the SBA accountable to the taxpayer, and we are prepared to use every tool at our disposal to do so.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Williams and Ernst accuse the SBA of taking advantage of voluntary interviews that the committee offered rather than forced testimony through subpoenas, and SBA individuals &ldquo;conveniently could not recall key information.&rdquo; The pair sent a joint letter on May 16 requesting transcripts for political or mixed travel and the travel itineraries of senior SBA workers.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;In response, the SBA provided 108 pages of media advisories concerning events the Administrator had attended&mdash; which as the Committees noted to your staff, were not what the Committees requested and is not considered responsive to the request,&rdquo; Williams and Ernst wrote.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It is deeply troubling that the SBA continues to withhold documents and information,&rdquo; the lawmakers continued, &ldquo;not just because it suggests that the SBA is engaged in some wrongdoing, but also because it&rsquo;s a direct attack on the coequal responsibilities of our respective branches of government. &hellip; The Committees seek to work with the SBA, not fight it; however, the SBA&rsquo;s obstruction creates concerns over its actions and may force the Committees to use more direct means of attaining information.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Republicans noted in the letter that the investigation of the Michigan voter registration program is &ldquo;becoming more pressing&rdquo; as the 2024 election grows closer. Michigan is one of several swing states that have become <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/presidential\/3073112\/biden-trails-trump-battleground-states-poll\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>more of a target<\/a> for Biden and Democrats as support for the president is dwindling over concerns he is unable to defeat former President Donald Trump in November. In the Great Lake State, Biden <a href=\"https:\/\/emersoncollegepolling.com\/july-2024-swing-state-polls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>trails Trump by 3 percentage points<\/a> according to an Emerson College poll released Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Where there is smoke, there is usually fire and the SBA&rsquo;s refusal to answer basic questions fuels the appearance that the agency is disregarding the Hatch Act and engaging in partisan politics ahead of the 2024 election,&rdquo; Ernst said. &ldquo;The Biden administration weaponizing government resources adds insult to injury for small businesses who have been put through the wringer by inflation and the rapid expansion of the federal regulatory state.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Sunlight is truly the best disinfectant, and the SBA needs to stop dodging accountability and commit to being transparent,&rdquo; the Iowa senator added.<\/p>\n<p>The <em>Washington Examiner <\/em>reached out to the SBA for comment. <\/p>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1700500\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1700500\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Congressional Republicans are threatening to subpoena the Small Business Administration for information on its voter registration program with Michigan, which they believe is politically motivated. They have accused the SBA of withholding documents and information related to the program, and are prepared to use every tool at their disposal to hold the agency accountable. The investigation into the program is becoming more urgent as the 2024 election approaches, with concerns that the SBA may be engaging in partisan politics. The Republicans are calling for transparency and accountability from the SBA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2648,"featured_media":2299482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/joni-ersnt-roger-williams-small-business-1024x680.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[32502,3756,7836,35481],"class_list":["post-2299481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-biden-administration","tag-republicans","tag-subpoena","tag-voter-outreach-program"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/joni-ersnt-roger-williams-small-business-1024x680.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2299481","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\/2648"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2299481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2299481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2299482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2299481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2299481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2299481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}