The Supreme Court says it won’t consider hearing a challenge to a Biden executive order that allows the federal government to meddle in elections using taxpayer dollars until Sept. 30.
The challenge from Pennsylvania lawmakers centers on President Joe Biden’s March 2021 Executive Order that directs federal agencies to implement measures to register voters and get-out-the-vote.
The Supreme Court term begins in October with oral arguments heard until April. However the Court will only decide whether to take the “Bidenbucks” case on Sept. 30, according to The Epoch Times. This means, even if the four justices needed to take the case agree, and even if SCOTUS rules in favor of the Pennsylvania lawmakers, it will likely not be in time for any meaningful action to be taken before the election in November.
It also means federal agencies can continue their unfettered meddling in the meantime.
What Does The Suit Allege?
Republican Pennsylvania State Rep. Dawn Keefer, along with 26 other state legislators, argue Biden overstepped his constitutional authority to take control of elections with his “Bidenbucks” Executive Order, as my colleague M.D. Kittle reported.
The suit was filed in January against President Biden, Pennsylvania Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro, Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, and Jonathan Marks — who serves as deputy secretary for state Elections and Commissions.
The suit claims the executive order is unconstitutional because it violates the right of lawmakers to set the time, place, and manner in which an election shall be held.
“[A]ll agency action in conformity with [EO] 14019 is without congressional delegation or funding, and conducted merely by executive fiat,” the suit alleges. In particular, the Pennsylvania delegation of state lawmakers argues that “Bidenbucks” has the capability of changing Pennsylvania’s election law “which usurps the state legislature’s powers and violates the state legislators’ federal civil rights under the Electors Clause and the Elections Clause.”
The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania dismissed the challenge in March, arguing individual state representatives did not have standing to bring the case. The lawmakers appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit but also asked the Supreme Court to expedite their consideration of the case so “they can possibly obtain a preliminary injunction in the district court well before the November 2024 election,” according to The Epoch Times.
The Supreme Court rejected this request in May and announced Wednesday it will instead make a decision in September.
How Bidenbucks Works
Federal agencies are required under Executive Order 14019 to use taxpayer dollars to meddle in elections. One way this is being done is through the Department of Education, which issued a memo in February announcing federal work-study funds could be used to pay students at government agencies to register voters or serve as a poll watcher.
The Department of Agriculture is colluding with left-wing groups like Demos to turn out voters. Further, the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, as reported by my colleague M.D. Kittle, “encourages all state agencies administering the child nutrition programs to provide local program operators with promotional materials, including voter registration and non-partisan, non-campaign election information, to disseminate among voting-age program participants and their families.”
The agency went so far as to recommend that “school food authorities administering the National School Lunch Program … in high schools, and adult day care centers and emergency shelters participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program … to promote voter registration and election information among voting-age participants and use congregate feeding areas, such as cafeterias, or food distribution sites, as sites for the dissemination of information.”
Then there’s the key state of Michigan whose Department of State signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) “to promote civic engagement and voter registration in Michigan.” The House Committee on Small Business heard from witnesses about these efforts, with Republican Rep. Pete Stauber noting approximately 91 percent of Michigan voters are registered to vote.
As Stauber rightfully wondered: If the purpose of this executive order is to register voters on a nonpartisan basis, why did the SBA focus on Michigan rather than states with lower voter registration numbers?
Without earlier consideration from the Supreme Court, these tax-payer funded election interference schemes will continue to persist, including through the period in which early voting begins in several states.
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist.
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