House Republicans Request DOJ’s Plan To Implement Biden’s Pro-Voting Executive Order
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Tuesday, Oct. 18, nine Republican U.S. House members sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, demanding information and transparency about Executive Order 14019, President Joe Biden’s pro-voting executive order. Issued in March 2021, this order directs federal government agencies to increase access to and information about voter registration and elections. Among other measures, the order calls on certain agencies to maximize participation under Section 7 of the National Voter Registration Act and to design recommendations to maximize participation for voters with disabilities, active duty military and overseas citizens, eligible voters incarcerated in federal custody and Native American voters. The relevant agencies include the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
The letter from House Republicans asks for the DOJ to release its strategic plan for implementing Executive Order 14019. “Attempting to conceal this plan from the public is not only contrary to federal law, but is deeply concerning and damaging to the public’s already dwindling confidence in your department,” the letter reads. Earlier congressional letters similarly asked for information from other federal agencies. On Oct. 6, America First Legal — a conservative legal group founded by Mark Meadows and Stephen Miller, two top advisors to former President Donald Trump — sued fourteen federal agencies under the Freedom of Information Act, requesting these strategic plans. In its press release, American First Legal calls Biden’s initiative “planned election interference program is the product of leftist and race-obsessed special interests.”
Notably, eight of the nine House Republicans on the recent letter voted against certifying 2020 election results on Jan. 6, 2021 (the ninth had requested evidence from the White House earlier on to help efforts to overturn election results.) In early August, 15 Republican secretaries of state sent a letter to Biden asking him to rescind the executive order completely.