In a move that many conservatives will regard as a betrayal, the Supreme Court has refused to hear a challenge brought by Republican lawmakers against one of President Joe Biden's policies. 

According to the Associated Press, the challenge concerns an election-related executive order which Biden signed in March of 2021.

Biden linked executive order to January 6 and civil rights struggle

The news service reported at the time that the order directed federal agencies to expand access to voter registration and election information.

It also called on the heads of those agencies to create plans under which federal employees can take time off to vote or and volunteer their time as poll workers. What's more, the order sought an overhaul of the government's Vote.gov website.

Biden touted the order while speaking at the Martin and Coretta King Unity Breakfast in Selma, Alabama, saying, "Every eligible voter should be able to vote and have it counted. If you have the best ideas, you have nothing to hide. Let the people vote."

"In 2020 — with our very democracy on the line — even in the midst of a pandemic – more Americans voted than ever before," the president insisted.

"Yet instead of celebrating this powerful demonstration of voting — we saw an unprecedented insurrection on our Capitol and a brutal attack on our democracy on January 6th. A never-before-seen effort to ignore, undermine and undo the will of the people," Biden went on to add.

Food program used to fund voter registration efforts

However, nine Republican secretaries of state and 11 congressional representatives maintained that Biden's actions amounted to an unconstitutional attempt at election interference.

GOP targets a Biden executive order on voter registration ahead of the fall election https://t.co/aCmMGFyFAO

— The Associated Press (@AP) June 22, 2024

The plaintiffs complained that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service told state agencies that providing voter registration services was an allowable expense under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

"Using the nation’s multi-billion-dollar nutrition program to implement the Biden Administration's voter registration scheme is not only a cause for concern, but one that necessitates further scrutiny," the Republicans wrote in their brief.

West Virginia secretary of state asked that order be rescinded

The Associated Press noted how in May of 2022, West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner sent a letter asking Biden to rescind the order.

"Adding federal agencies to an already complex administrative process will make it even more challenging for election officials to ensure timely and accurate registration services before the election," Warner was quoted as saying in a statement.

Warner was joined in his subsequent lawsuit by attorneys general from Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Wyoming.