The Democratic Party, and the Biden administration in particular, has been criticized in the past for allegedly using taxpayer-funded programs as an indirect method of registering predominantly Democratic voters.
One recent example involves the Department of Education’s appropriation of federal funds meant for work-study purposes to be earmarked “for employment by a Federal, State, local, or Tribal public agency for civic engagement work that is not associated with a particular interest or group.”
The agency’s new guidance further explains that college students may receive taxpayer-provided payment for performing activities including “broad-based get-out-the-vote activities, voter registration, providing voter assistance at a polling place or through a voter hotline, or serving as a poll worker.”
While the initiative is described as apolitical, it has raised major concerns from a number of prominent Republicans that the funds will be used primarily to focus on registering those voters who are most likely to aid in President Joe Biden’s re-election bid.
“Paying students through the Federal Work-Study program to register voters might sound like just encouraging civic engagement, but depending on the design and execution of such a program, I think it’s ripe to be politically weaponized,” explained College Republicans National Chair Courtney Britt.
House Committee on Education and the Workforce Chair Virginia Foxx (R-NC) voiced a similar concern, asserting: “It’s about as crooked as it gets. Every time I think this administration can’t stoop any lower, I’m proven wrong.”
She pointed to the fact that the president is “underwater with voters” as the primary motivation behind this perceived effort to rally support using Department of Education funds.
“That’s why he’s resorted to misinusing the Federal Work-Study program to turn out new voters for his own personal gain,” Foxx concluded.
📢 @virginiafoxx slams @POTUS's scheme to pay college students through the Federal Work-Study program to register voters ahead of the 2024 election. https://t.co/jebEYv6dEB pic.twitter.com/7PukDrzYMW
— House Committee on Education & the Workforce (@EdWorkforceCmte) March 6, 2024
Heritage Foundation Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies senior legal fellow Hans A. von Spakovsky took his critique further, describing the initiative as a violation of a law limiting political activity by executive branch officials.
This is the unauthorized use of taxpayer funds to get out the vote for the Biden campaign and Democratic candidates,” he asserted. “It is a violation of the Hatch Act as well as the Anti-Deficiency Act. It is an outrageous abuse of power.”
