State and federal Republicans are joining a lawsuit challenging an executive order from President Biden aimed at registering up to 3.5 million new voters before Election Day.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose joined with Reps. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, and Beth Van Dune, R-Texas, in accusing Biden of "weaponizing" federal institutions. The lawsuit, filed with the America First Policy Institute, argues the Biden administration is attempting to turn federal election agencies into a "Democratic turnout machine."
"The Biden Administration is once again weaponizing federal agencies, this time to steer taxpayer resources to liberal activist groups who want to sway the election" LaRose told Fox News Digital in a statement Tuesday.
"This is a cynical attempt to turn government agencies into a Democratic turnout machine, and it’s wrong. That’s why I’m joining this lawsuit and working to hold the administration accountable," he added.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in the northern district of Texas, relates to an executive order Biden signed in March 2021 that sought to register 3.5 million additional voters before the 2024 election, and also mobilize them to vote.
The administration justified the move through the National Voter Registration Act, but the lawsuit argues that the law has never been interpreted to authorize such an action. The lawsuit further highlights the outside groups the White House has worked with to implement the order, many of which are left wing.
"Instead of instilling policies that Americans want and need, they turn to the well-oiled DC swamp filled to the brim with deep state loyalists to illegally register voters in an attempt to help them win," Jackson said in a statement to AFPI.
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"To facilitate the EO’s implementation, the White House has held listening sessions with far-left groups including the Southern Poverty Law Center, ACLU, Demos, and Black Lives Matter, which strongly suggests that the EO is intended to provide a partisan advantage to liberal Democrats," AFPI said.
The White House dismissed the lawsuit in comments to Fox News Digital, arguing Republicans are only trying to limit the voting pool.
"These are baseless claims brought by the very people who spread debunked lies about the 2020 elections and have used those same debunked lies to advance laws across the nation that make it harder to vote and easier to undermine the will of the people," White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson said.
"The Biden-Harris Administration will continue working to protect the voting rights of every eligible American regardless of their political affiliation," Patterson added.
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AFPI is seeking a preliminary injunction to block the Biden administration from further implementation of the order until litigation is complete.
