House Republicans are demanding a probe into why federal taxpayer-funded election grants were given to politically connected Democratic operatives during the 2020 cycle.
GOP lawmakers on the House Oversight and Reform Committee plan to send a letter on Friday to the inspector general of the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) requesting the probe. The EAC is a nonpartisan federal agency which helps states administer elections.
“For over a year, we have repeatedly raised questions about the lack of oversight of federal grant funds disbursed,” the lawmakers wrote.
In the letter, a copy of which was exclusively obtained by The Washington Times, Republicans argued more oversight is needed into how taxpayer money was spent to boost voting during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.
The lawmakers note that $400 million was appropriated for the EAC in early 2020. The money was to be given out as grants for state and local governments to help subsidize the cost of holding elections during a pandemic. Of the $400 million, so far only $326 million has been accounted for by the EAC. Furthermore, the Government Accountability Office estimates there are questions raised regarding at least 20% of the grants disbursed.
“The failure to accurately track state expenditures of federal grant funds has potentially enabled significant waste, fraud and abuse by numerous states,” wrote the GOP lawmakers.
Earlier this year, oversight Republicans successfully pushed the EAC to investigate a $35 million election grant given in 2020 by California to SKD Knickerbocker. The grant, which was given to educate voters on the state’s vote-by-mail laws, raised concerns about a conflict of interest given that SKD was working on President Biden’s White House campaign.
“Whenever taxpayer dollars are potentially wasted, abused, or mismanaged, an inspector general must launch an investigation and expose any wrongdoing,” said Rep. James Comer of Kentucky, the top Republican on the oversight committee.
