House Republicans demand Michigan secretary of state explain work with SBA on elections

Republican members of the House Small Business Committee demanded Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) provide an explanation over working with the U.S. Small Business Administration to allegedly aid President Biden's reelection campaign.

The letter, sent Monday from committee chairman Roger Williams, R-Texas, and Michigan representatives on the committee, demanded documents from the secretary of state's office regarding voter registration efforts the federal agency is implementing with the state, Fox News reported.

The committee members wrote in the letter that they had "great concern over the apparent and blatant weaponization of taxpayer resources to aid and abet President Biden’s re-election campaign in the state of Michigan. It appears the Biden Administration and your office have diverted funding away from supporting small businesses and used it for election purposes."

The panel has been investigating the relationship between the Michigan Department of State and SBA, after the two agencies signed a memorandum of understanding in March to work together on voter registration.

The letter noted that "39 out of the 52 small business outreach events currently scheduled in Michigan from January through November 2024 coincidently take place in counties with the highest populations of demographics targeted by the Democratic National Committee."

Michigan Department of State spokeswoman Angela Benander told Fox News regarding the memo with the SBA, "Allegations that this program is being used to drive large amounts of voter activity in a partisan manner are patently false."

The partnership between the SBA and Michigan Department of State appears to follow Executive Order 14019, which was signed by Biden in March 2021 and often referred to by critics as “Bidenbucks.”

According to the executive order, “[t]he head of each agency shall evaluate ways in which the agency can, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, promote voter registration and voter participation,” including "soliciting and facilitating approved, nonpartisan third-party organizations and State officials to provide voter registration services on agency premises."