EXCLUSIVE: The House Small Business Committee releases its annual interim report on what it says is the “weaponization (of) federal resources” for political purposes within the Small Business Administration.
Earlier this year, Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, committee chairman, issued a rare subpoena to Small Business Administration officials regarding their work related to an official Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) established with the Michigan Department of State.
The MOU was in accordance with President Biden’s 2021 Executive Order.14019: Promoting access to votingHowever, the commission alleged that the SBA had engaged in partisan voter registration in a key swing state — rather than simply helping voters across the board.
The committee report, obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, found that Biden’s executive order was an “inappropriate use of executive authority” and that SBA actions in accordance with it “pose unnecessary risks to the integrity of America’s elections.”
LAWMAKERS SLAM SBA ‘STONEWALLING’ OVER MICHIGAN VOTER MEMO AS ELECTION CLAIMS SURFACES
“The SBA’s MOU with the State of Michigan and the travel patterns of senior SBA officials indicate the convergence of official duties and partisan political activity,” the committee found.
“Whether intentionally or negligently, the SBA has failed to address concerns about the biased nature of this MOU.”
The committee’s report also found that the SBA “diverted from its core mission” by working with Michigan under the voter registration MOU, and that it “engaged in a sustained campaign to obscure the substance of EO 14019’s implementation and to cover up the truth of alleged political problems. activities at the SBA to the committee.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., praised the committee’s work and its interim report, saying it rightly “exposed not only the improper use of executive power but also significant concerns about actions taken by any agency that could compromise the integrity of the government.” American elections.”
“The stark contrast between the SBA’s core mission and its involvement in voter registration activities highlights the urgent need for greater transparency and accountability,” Johnson said.
Johnson added that he and the Republican Party look forward to working with President-elect Trump to put an end to such “abuse.”
The 47-page report further alleged that the SBA exceeded the requirements of state and federal laws, including the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, the Anti-Deficiency Act and the Hatch Act, which prohibits government officials from engaging in politics in their official capacities .
In May, Williams and his committee, along with Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, demanded travel schedules, official calendars and other documents from the SBA. Moreover, at least one Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) A lawsuit was launched separately by the right-leaning Oversight Project for some of the same documents, as Congress was allegedly “held against the wall.”
Williams initially accused the SBA and Administrator Isabel Casillas-Guzman of shirking her responsibility to help “Main Street” and instead focusing on registering voters in heavily Democratic parts of Michigan like Detroit and Saginaw — while ignoring the demands of the committee’s supervision.
Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., chairman of the House Administration Committee — whose panel oversees legislative matters related to elections — said that while elections are partisan matters, election administration is not.
“The Biden-Harris administration working with the Michigan Department of State to use your tax dollars for a partisan purpose should never be allowed,” he said.
People queue in front of a polling station. (Reuters)
Delving into the executive order that targeted the SBA’s actions, Williams’ report found that it changed the way the executive branch enforces the National Voter Registration Act, and uniquely required agency officials to deal with White House to work together to find ways to support federal workers. who want to volunteer as election workers or observers.
The report added that Michigan’s choice as a petri dish for the SBA’s work under the executive order caught the committee’s attention early on because of its routine status as a swing state and the fact that top officials were “sympathetic” to the government. Biden-Harris campaign.
“This interim report illustrates how the MOU blurs the line between personal political beliefs and the official duties of the SBA and state employees in Michigan,” the document said.
The report also included copies of email chains between the White House, the SBA and/or outside advocacy groups.
“The committee found that many senior SBA employees have relationships with these left-wing organizations,” the report said.
“The Biden-Harris administration, in particular, has ‘warmly welcomed’ these relationships between nonpartisan agencies and left-wing organizations.”
In his summary and response to the report, Williams said the SBA was created to “help, advise, assist and protect the interests of small businesses.”
In previous comments to Fox News Digital, the top Democrat on Williams’ committee expressed his displeasure with Williams’ subpoenas and investigative practices in investigating the MOU.
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Williams focuses on a partnership started by Isabel Guzman, head of the Michigan Department of State and Small Business Administration. (Getty Images)
In a statement, Representative Nydia VelazquezDN.Y., said the committee had long prided itself on “bipartisan cooperation to help American entrepreneurs.”
“Unfortunately, with (these) subpoenas, Republicans have rejected these principles in pursuit of a partisan investigation,” Velazquez said.
SBA representatives have repeatedly denied allegations from Congress’ investigation.
In October, a spokesman for Guzman said the explicit accusations of “obstructing” the commission’s work were “demonstrably false.”
An SBA spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that any accusations of “stonewalling” are “demonstrably false.”
“For nearly two years, the SBA has cooperated with the Committee’s investigation, testifying at multiple hearings, providing Committee staff with briefings, making agency officials available for transcribed interviews, and producing thousands of pages of documents in response their investigation,” the spokesperson said. said, calling the allegations “baseless.”
