EXCLUSIVE: The House Small Business Committee releases its year-end interim report on what it found to be the “weaponization (of federal resources)” for political purposes within the Small Business Administration.
Earlier this year, Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, the committee's chairman, issued a rare subpoena to SBA officials regarding their work in connection with a fraudulent memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Michigan Department of State.
The MOU was in accordance with President Biden's 2021 Executive Order.14019: Promoting access to voting“However, the committee alleged that SBA engaged in partisan outreach to voter registration in a key swing state — rather than simply assisting voters across the board.
The panel's report, obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, found that Biden's executive order is an “improper use of executive authority” and that the SBA's actions pursuant to it therefore “pose unnecessary risks to the integrity of U.S. elections.”
Lawmakers criticize SBA for 'stalling' on Michigan voter memorandum as election claims surface
“SBA's memorandum of understanding with the state of Michigan and the travel patterns of senior SBA officials indicate a conflation of official duties with partisan political activities,” the committee found.
“Whether intentionally or negligently, SBA has failed to rebut concerns about the partisan nature of this MOU.”
The committee's report also found that the SBA “deviated from its core mission” in working with Michigan under the voter registration memorandum of understanding, and that it “engaged in a prolonged campaign to conceal the makeup of its implementation of Executive Order 14019 and obscure the truth of the alleged political allegations.” Activities in 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 authority, but also significant concerns about actions by an agency that may jeopardize the safety of the country.” 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 caucus look forward to working with President-elect Trump to end such “abuses.”
The 47-page report also 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 capacity.
In May, Williams and his committee, along with Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, demanded travel schedules, official calendars and other documents from the Small Business Administration. Plus, at least Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) The lawsuit was launched separately by the right-leaning Oversight Project over some of the same documents that Congress was allegedly “obstructing.”
Williams initially accused the SBA and its director, Isabel Casillas Guzman, of shirking its responsibility to help Main Street and instead focusing on voter registration in heavily Democratic parts of Michigan like Detroit and Saginaw — while ignoring the commission's oversight demands.
Rep. Brian Steele, R-Wis., chairman of the House Administration Committee — whose committee oversees legislative matters related to elections — said that although elections are partisan affairs, election administration should not be.
“The Biden-Harris administration should never be allowed to partner with the Michigan Secretary of State to use taxpayer dollars for partisan purposes,” he said.
People line up outside the polling station. (Reuters)
Digging into the executive order with which the SBA's actions were intended to conform, the Williams report found that it changed the way the executive branch enforces the National Voter Registration Act, and uniquely requires agency officials to work with the White House to find ways to support federal employees. Who want to volunteer as election workers or observers.
The report added that the selection of Michigan as a petri dish for the SBA's work under the executive order caught the committee's attention early, because of its routine status as a swing state and the fact that its top officials were “sympathetic” to the Biden-Harris campaign.
“This interim report demonstrates how the MOU blurs the line between the personal political beliefs and official duties of SBA employees and Michigan State employees,” the document said.
The report also included copies of email chains between the White House, SBA management, and/or outside advocacy organizations.
“The committee discovered that several senior SBA employees had ties to these left-leaning organizations,” it read.
“Notably, the Biden-Harris administration has warmly welcomed these relationships between nonpartisan agencies and left-leaning organizations.”
In summarizing and responding to the report, Williams said the SBA was created to “aid, advise, assist and protect the interests of small businesses.”
In previous statements to Fox News Digital, the top Democrat on Williams' committee expressed dissatisfaction with the subpoenas and Williams' investigative practices in investigating the MOU.
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Williams is targeting a partnership started by the Michigan Department of State and Small Business Administration Chief Isabel Guzman. (Getty Images)
In a statement, Representative Nydia VelasquezD.N.Y said. The committee has long prided itself on “bipartisan cooperation to help America's entrepreneurs.”
“Unfortunately, with these subpoenas, Republicans have rejected these principles to pursue a partisan investigation,” Velasquez said.
SBA representatives have repeatedly denied the allegations made by the congressional investigation.
In October, a spokesman for Guzman said that explicit allegations of “obstruction” of the committee’s work were “patently false.”
An SBA spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that any claims of “stalling” are “patently false.”
“Over the course of nearly two years, the SBA cooperated with the Committee’s investigation, testified at multiple hearings, provided Committee staff with briefings, made agency officials available for written interviews, and produced thousands of pages of documents responding to their investigations,” the spokesperson said. He said, describing these accusations as “unfounded.”
