Report: ‘Biden Bucks’ executive order uses federal money, presidential threats to buy Democrat votes

A report from the Heritage Foundation’s watchdog group alleges that an executive order improperly channels federal money to liberal groups to help mobilize voters in elections to benefit Democrats.

“It is the responsibility of the Federal Government to expand access to, and education about, voter registration and election information, and to combat misinformation, in order to enable all eligible Americans to participate in our democracy,” says President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14019.

But the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project said that 14019 “raised concerns of partisan bias, with evidence suggesting alignment with far left-leaning think tanks and NGOs funded by dark money.”

The watchdog said that the selected liberal groups then use government money for voter registration and promoting mail-in ballots.

The order is also used to improperly site liberal, third-party get-out-the-vote operations in federal government agencies.  

A review of the executive order by The Lion shows it comes with a thinly veiled threat: Any agency that declines to participate in the scheme must notify the president personally, in writing, as to why they refuse, according to section 4, paragraph (b). 

While the executive order claims to be nonpartisan, groups selected by the White House “lack any center or right-of-center representation,” said the Oversight Project. 

During a Senate Rules Committee hearing, Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tennessee, asked Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen, who supervises voting in Alabama, about the executive order.  

“Secretary Allen, are you aware of any authority in federal law that permits the Executive Branch agencies to engage in this sort of voter mobilization activity?” Hagerty asked. 

Allen said he was not aware of any federal law that permits voter mobilization under the executive order. 

Hagerty also said Biden’s order could violate both the Hatch Act and Anti-Deficiency Act. 

The Hatch Act prohibits civil service employees from engaging in political activities, while the Anti-Deficiency Act prohibits the president from spending money in ways not authorized by Congress. 

Hagerty went on to accuse Biden of using “left-wing groups to conduct get out the vote activity,” an assertion to which Allen agreed.  

“Let’s take a look at who’s helping the Biden Administration with this order. Last year, an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services acknowledged that it was working with groups like the ACLU and Demos to implement this voting executive order, the latter of which describes its mission as ‘pioneering bold progressive ideas.’ … Do the ACLU and Demos sound like nonpartisan groups to you?” Hagerty asked Allen.  

“No, sir,” said Allen.  

Subsequently, the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda Young asking for documents related to implementation of the executive order. 

“Our concern has been exacerbated by the continued lack of transparency from federal agencies and the White House regarding the implementation of this executive order,” said the letter. 

The demand to OMB’s Young was signed by Committee Chairman James Comer and the other House Republicans serving with him. 

Among the items requested are a list of all approved third-party organizations designated as “affiliated” under the order, documents related to the approval process for third parties to participate and communications in drafting the order.  

The Heritage report comes after the Oversight Project was finally given a complete copy of documents relating to the origins of the executive order, which echoed Comer’s concerns about the lack of transparency. 

Initially, the White House only responded to the Oversight Project with heavily redacted versions of the documents. 

The White House secrecy may have been an attempt to try to avoid exposing the order as only directing federal money to groups that would help liberals.  

“Every participant whose party affiliation or political donation history could be identified by the Oversight Project was identified as a Democrat except for one Green Party member,” said the Oversight Project.  

Some of the groups associated with the creation of 14019 include notorious Democrat partisans, such as: The AFL-CIO, the National Education Association, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Brennan Center for Justice, Black Voters Matter, Demos (founded by Barack Obama), Open Society Policy Center and Southern Coalition for Social Justice.