U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business

31/07/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 31/07/2024 19:50

Chairman Williams Subpoenas SBA Over Voter Registration Efforts and Political Travel Documents

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Yesterday, Congressman Roger Williams (TX-25), Chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, once again subpoenaed the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) regarding the Committee's investigation into the agency's voter registration activities under their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Michigan Department of State (MDOS). These actions were necessary due to the agency's continued stonewalling of the Committee's ongoing investigation, failing to produce responsive documents despite numerous accommodations made to expedite production. Chairman Williams issued the following statement.

"It is unfortunate that the Committee has been forced to issue yet another subpoena to the SBA," said Chairman Williams. "Sadly, the SBA has repeatedly stonewalled the investigation into their electioneering efforts in Michigan. As I have said before, we want to work with, not against, the SBA to help Main Street, but their unwillingness to cooperate has made it difficult to do so. With less than 100 days till the election, this investigation has never been more important. This Committee will use every tool available to put an end to this abuse of taxpayer resources."

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Read the story here.

Rea the Subpoena to the SBAhere.

Read the transcribed interview with SBA Special Advisor Tyler Robinson here.

Read the transcribed interview with SBA Chief of Staff Arthur Plews here.

Background:

Since President Biden announced his March 2021 Executive Order on Promoting Access to Voting (E.O. 14019), Republicans on the House Committee on Small Business have been investigating the Small Business Administration's (SBA) involvement and participation in the voter registration efforts stemming from E.O. 14019. The Committee re-engaged the SBA and Administrator Guzman when the SBA issued a press release on March 19, 2024, announcing their new voter registration Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

For over four months, the Committee has been requesting documents from the SBA relating to its MOU with the State of Michigan, but the agency has repeatedly failed to meaningfully fulfill the Committee's requests. Despite the Committee's numerous accommodations to the SBA to expedite document production, the agency has continued to not produce documents that are responsive to the Committee's requests.

On July 24, 2024, the Committee held a hearing entitled, "Executive Overreach: Examining the SBA's Electioneering Efforts with Associate Administrator of Office of Field Operations, Jennifer Kim." During this hearing, Ms. Kim showed a severe lack of awareness regarding how this MOU came to be and how it would be implemented, even though she signed the MOU and was the SBA's Associate Administrator of the Office of Field Operations, which is responsible for implementing this MOU.

The Committee has given the SBA multiple avenues to willfully and meaningfully respond, but the agency has failed to do so. The Committee remains committed to ensuring the SBA is transparent with the American public and focused on ensuring that they are not involved in political activities on behalf of the Democrat party.

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