FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 31, 2023
Biden’s unlawful executive order directs federal agencies to conduct registration drives for partisan voter turnout
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ted Budd (NC) has proposed an amendment to the Senate appropriations minibus that would prohibit any funds in this bill from being used to implement or enforce Executive Order 14019 on “Promoting Access to Voting.” The Senate minibus is a legislative package which includes three appropriations bills for fiscal year 2024: Military Construction and Veterans Affairs; the Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration (FDA); and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies.
Issued by President Biden in March 2021, Executive Order 14019 directs federal agencies to submit strategic plans to the White House describing how they will use taxpayer-funded resources allegedly to, among other things, “provide access to voter registration services and vote-by-mail ballot applications in the course of activities or services that directly engage with the public.”
National Chairman of the Election Transparency Initiative and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli issued the following statement:
“For years the administration stonewalled Congress because they know the truly unprecedented Executive Order 14019 has nothing to do with ‘promoting voting rights,’ or to ‘make voting easier,’ or to push back against Republican efforts to ‘roll back voting access’ as the liberal media has proclaimed. Make no mistake, Biden is attempting to weaponize the federal government as a political machine by directing federal agencies to conduct registration drives for partisan voter turnout. Voter registration is a function of political parties and candidates—not state, local or federal government.
“Washington Democrats’ attempted takeover of our elections hasn’t stopped with the defeat of H.R.1 and H.R. 4. The Senate should now waste no time denying funds for the implementation of Biden’s unlawful executive order—a federal government version of the infamous ‘Zuckerbucks’ scheme—whereby political appointees are ostensibly deputized to register and mobilize likely Democrat voters. Without delay, we urge the adoption of Senator Budd’s amendment, and for the House to begin reasserting the ‘power of the purse’ as they continue the appropriations process, including their imminent consideration of the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (H.R. 4664).”
The White House long concealed its plans for implementing Executive Order 14019 as lawmakers on Capitol Hill sought more information.
On May 10, 2023, U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (TN) was joined by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) and twelve other Senate Republican colleagues requesting a full accounting of all federal funding used to implement Executive Order 14019.
“First, while we all agree that increased voter participation is a good thing, the job of federal agencies is to perform their defined missions in a nonpartisan way, not use their taxpayer funds for clandestine voter mobilization and election-turnout operations,” the Senators wrote.
“Executive Order 14019 directs more than 600 federal agencies to engage in voter registration and mobilization efforts, despite a lack of congressional appropriation or authorization for these agencies to engage in such activity. An officer or employee who violates the Antideficiency Act is subject to administrative and potential criminal penalties, which underscores the need for transparency regarding these plans,” the Senators added.
Previously, on October 18, 2022, Republicans in the House called for the administration’s strategic plan to be made public, arguing that Biden “has no legal basis to order all federal agencies to engage in voter registration, nor does he have the authority to order any federal agency to engage in efforts to promote voter participation.”
At the same time the White House was attempting to conceal its plan, the Small Business Administration (SBA) bragged that it was “the first federal agency to request designation as a voter agency,” while an announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) indicated that that the agency plans to designate public health centers as “voting access hub[s].”
On August 25, 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it is updating its policy manual “to increase awareness and expand access to” voter registration drives during naturalization ceremonies.
Read More: Joe Biden’s Secret Voter Plan
The Election Transparency Initiative, a partnership between the American Principles Project (APP) and Susan B. Anthony (SBA) Pro-Life America, was organized to combat federal H.R. 1 and H.R. 4 legislation and advocate for state-based election reforms that voters can trust.
Photo Credit: Reuters
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