The House Committee on Small Business has released a Memorandum of Understanding between the Biden administration and the state of Michigan that it claims could be unconstitutional and aimed at registering voters in the key swing state for political purposes.
The House Committee on Small Business has raised concerns about a "Memorandum of Understanding" (MOU) between the Biden administration and the state of Michigan, alleging that it represents an unconstitutional agreement to register voters in the key swing state with a political agenda in mind.
The MOU, which was announced in March, outlines a collaboration between Michigan and the Biden administration's Small Business Administration (SBA) to "promote civic engagement and voter registration in Michigan." The committee fears that the agreement could be unconstitutional and an improper use of taxpayer funds.
According to the MOU, Michigan will provide the SBA with training resources related to the online Michigan Voter Information Center (MVIC) and the SBA will provide voter registration training to all personnel conducting activities under the agreement. The training will include information on who is eligible to register to vote, how to register online using MVIC, and the availability of additional voter information through MVIC.
The MOU also discusses the creation of a unique URL for the SBA to drive online visitors to register to vote and allows Michigan state government officials to facilitate in-person voter registration at SBA business outreach events.
The committee released the documentation in the interest of "transparency" and after seeing the MOU, the committee's previous concerns that the program is "unconstitutional" and an improper use of taxpayer funds were not assuaged.
"Seeing the MOU with Michigan does nothing to ease our concerns about the SBA getting involved in federal elections," Committee Chairman Roger Williams said. He further stated that the agreement confirms that SBA employees are preparing to undergo trainings on how to best register voters rather than spend their time working to help struggling small businesses.
Maps released by the committee overlay former SBA events, census data, Michigan Department of State data, and publicly reported information of Democrat-targeted voter blocs, suggesting possible areas that voter registration efforts will target when the effort is officially rolled out.
The data for the maps was compiled after the committee became aware of a video recording of an SBA adviser discussing SBA Administrator Isabel Guzman traveling to battleground states and "indirectly campaigning for Biden" and inviting Democratic members of Congress on the trips at a higher rate than Republicans.
The coordination between the SBA and Michigan was sparked by a 2021 executive order from President Biden directing federal agencies to promote "access to voting," which raised concerns from some that the administration is using the government agency to register votes in a swing state that many believe will be one of the states the November election hinges upon.
The House committee subpoenaed SBA Chief of Staff Arthur Plews and his special adviser, Tyler Robinson, after they failed to appear for scheduled transcribed interviews and failed to turn over documents and information related to the SBA program.
Plews was scheduled to testify before the committee on Thursday but has recently retained personal counsel, and the committee is negotiating a new time for him to meet with the committee to provide information on the program.
The SBA and the White House have not yet provided comments on the allegations.
