Students will receive financial assistance from the government to support Biden’s reelection campaign, funded by taxpayers, in the new ‘Bidenbucks’ initiative

The Biden administration is determined ​to push its ‍partisan get-out-the-vote⁣ campaign before the November election, ​and⁤ it’s willing to trample​ on the Constitution to achieve it.

Vice President Kamala Harris recently outlined the ⁤Democrats’ “four-part strategy” to⁤ use the full power of the federal government‍ to ​increase votes for Biden — a plan that ⁣experts say violates federal law.

“Today,⁢ we gather ‍to‍ lay out a ⁣four-part strategy to⁤ protect the⁤ freedom⁤ to vote. ​The first‍ part is the work that the ‌president and I have done to charge every federal⁢ agency to do all they can to make sure that every ⁤American has ​the information that they ⁤need to know how they can⁢ vote when they are eligible,” Harris stated Tuesday before convening a “closed-door meeting” at⁣ the ‌White House with leftist voting activists.

Tuesday’s announcement and recent guidance by the U.S.⁤ Department of Education ‌indicate an‌ urgency on the part of the administration to activate‌ the full machinery of⁣ what has ‍been dubbed “Bidenbucks” — the use of federal agencies and resources to target likely left-leaning voters for the pivotal presidential election in November. ⁢It seems that federal agencies ⁣are enthusiastically carrying out President Joe ​Biden’s Executive Order 14019. Signed shortly after‌ Biden took office, the order ⁤authorizes federal ​agencies to expand voter registration ⁣and turnout, enlisting “approved” third-party organizations to assist in‌ the ⁢get-out-the-vote effort.

However, the‍ executive branch’s involvement in such matters is not​ within⁤ its jurisdiction, but the Biden team seems unconcerned about such details.

Your⁢ Tax Dollars at Work?

As part of this four-point strategy, ⁣the U.S. Department ‌of Health and Human ‍Services will “email information on how⁢ to register to vote to everyone who​ enrolls” in the Affordable Care⁣ Act. Harris enthusiastically ‌noted that this targets a market of 21 million people. The​ operation is already underway, with the first emails sent out last Friday.

All of the Social⁤ Security⁢ Administration’s approximately 1,200​ offices nationwide will display signs from vote.gov, the U.S. voter information site. Vote.gov information will also ​be ⁣displayed at all ‍national parks.

The ‌action plan also aims⁢ to increase electoral participation​ among high‍ school and college students. Students ⁤will be paid through the Federal‌ Work-Study program to register voters and serve as “nonpartisan poll workers,” according to Harris.

“This is important for a number ‌of ⁣reasons. One, to ‌engage our young leaders in this process and activate them to strengthen our communities. But also, this ⁤is the work we need to do, considering that⁣ many poll workers have left ‍this job⁣ for various ⁢reasons,” the vice president explained, alluding to the false narrative that election workers nationwide are constantly under ⁣threat from “election ⁤deniers.”

This week, the ‌Department of​ Education issued‍ a memo as ​a ⁤follow-up to a 2022 “Dear​ Colleague” letter, clarifying⁢ that Federal Work-Study (FWS) funds can be ⁤used to support “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.”

The work-study program, which happens to ​be at risk ⁢in a pending⁤ House appropriations bill, is part of the ⁢financial aid package offered to college students, allowing them to earn money through on-campus jobs.⁣ Historically, these positions did not ‍involve get-out-the-vote efforts —⁢ that is, until the⁢ implementation of the Bidenbucks ⁣initiative.

The DOE⁣ argues‍ that under the Higher​ Education Act ‌of 1965, eligible‍ postsecondary institutions ⁣are required to “make a good faith effort to distribute​ a mail‌ voter registration form, requested and received from the State, to each ⁤student ​enrolled in ​a degree or certificate program and physically in attendance⁣ at the institution, and to‌ make⁤ such forms widely available to‍ students at the institution.”

In the 2022 letter, the Office of Postsecondary Education stated:

FWS funds cannot be used for employment by a Federal, State, or local public agency, or a private nonprofit organization, other than the‌ institution, for work⁣ involving partisan or ‍nonpartisan political activity, including party-affiliated voter registration activities, as this ⁣is expressly prohibited under 34 CFR⁢ 675.22(b)(5).

However, the Department of Education now has⁢ a different interpretation. The‍ agency claims that it‌ is permissible to use Federal Work-Study funds for get-out-the-vote efforts if you interpret‍ the regulations in a certain way.

“The Department is clarifying today that FWS funds may be used for⁤ employment by a Federal, State, local, or Tribal⁢ public agency for civic engagement work,” including get-out-the-vote and‍ voter registration efforts, as well as serving as poll workers, the memo states. “We believe this interpretation is supported by the language of​ 34 CFR § 675.22(b)(5) and aligns ​with the overall ​meaning ​of the regulation, which aims to promote student employment⁤ in the public interest while ⁣ensuring that the⁣ work is not associated⁤ with any ⁢faction in an ⁤election or constitutes political activity.”

‘Foot Soldiers ⁤Into Democrat Strongholds’

If you want to see just how partisan this “employment ⁢in the public interest” is, just look at ‌the number of⁢ conservatives involved in the federally-funded voter registration effort. Spoiler‍ alert: Left-wingers dominate the process.

“The goal of this latest guidance ‍from ⁤the Department of Education is to provide legal cover to education bureaucrats,⁢ allowing them to hire an army of ⁣college students using taxpayer dollars,” said Sofia De Vito, legal fellow at the Foundation for Government Accountability. “If this continues, we will ⁢see campuses across the country deploying ⁤these foot soldiers into Democrat strongholds to get-out-the-vote for Joe Biden‌ and Kamala Harris in 2024.”

In October‍ 2021, the⁢ FGA ​submitted ‌a Freedom of ​Information Act request to the Department of Education, seeking communications and ​documents related to‍ Biden’s ​executive order. As I⁤ reported this week, the Department of Justice ⁤has been obstructing⁤ the release of records, condescendingly claiming‌ that doing‍ so would only “confuse⁣ the ‌public.”

In the meantime, the Department of Education (DOE) has​ recently published a “toolkit” for the​ Biden administration’s get-out-the-vote campaign. As my colleague⁢ Brianna Lyman reported earlier ⁤this week, the ⁣Education Department guidance​ suggests that colleges and ⁢universities provide drop‌ box locations and early-voting sites for ‌students, the majority ‍of whom tend to ​vote ‌for ‌Democrats.

‘Clearly‍ Breaking the Law’

Constitutional law ​expert Hans⁢ von​ Spakovsky argues that the Biden administration’s latest scheme fails the legal test.

“Congress⁤ has never allocated any money for the executive ⁣branch to ⁤do⁢ that, ⁢so the administration is clearly breaking the law,” said von Spakovsky, ‌a senior ‍legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese III ‍Center for Legal ‍and Judicial Studies and a⁤ former member of the Federal Election Commission.

“There’s no ⁤way that Congress allocated funds ​that ‌could be used to interfere with the election process,” von‌ Spakovsky added.

The legal expert argues that the ⁣Biden administration’s redirection of ‌work-study funds violates the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits federal agencies from “obligating or expending federal funds ⁣in advance​ or in excess of ⁤an appropriation.”

However, von Spakovsky doesn’t expect much accountability. The‍ U.S. Department of Justice is responsible for enforcing the Antideficiency ‍Act, and Attorney General Merrick ⁢Garland “is not going to ‌do anything to enforce the ‍act in this administration.”

With over half of the ​states banning or limiting the use​ of⁣ private funds in‍ elections, Democrats and their allies need another, more reliable way ⁤to interfere with the electoral process. In 2020, the left-leaning Center for Tech and⁢ Civic​ Life distributed hundreds ​of ⁢millions of dollars in “safe elections” grants funded by Facebook founder ⁢Mark Zuckerberg. The majority‌ of the money​ went​ to Democrat-heavy ⁢areas in battleground‍ states, and a⁣ significant portion was spent on efforts to increase likely-Democrat voter turnout.

“It⁤ was an outrageous abuse not only of the rules governing charitable funds,‌ but I believe it was interference in the electoral process,” von Spakovsky stated. “Now [the Biden administration] is saying, ‘We’re going ⁢to use the ⁤federal government to do that.'”