EXCLUSIVE — House Republicans are investigating the American Medical Association over its ties to a left-wing activist group behind sprawling voter registration efforts ahead of the 2024 elections, the Washington Examiner has learned.
Reps. Clay Higgins (R-LA), Chip Roy (R-TX), and Andy Biggs (R-AZ) sent a letter on Friday to AMA President Bruce Scott urging the trade group “to steer clear of politicization of the medical profession and loss of credibility from working with groups like Vot-ER in the future.”
Vot-ER, a charity founded by physician Alister Martin, an ex-adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris, has faced congressional scrutiny following a Washington Examiner report in May on its progressive funders. Charities must be nonpartisan under IRS law. At the same time, Vot-ER is run by left-wing activists and has ties to an executive order from President Joe Biden on voter registration that legal experts say is unconstitutional.
“We are greatly concerned by the ongoing politicization of the medical profession through advocacy efforts by organizations that the AMA has and continues to partner with regarding federal elections,” the House Republicans wrote to Scott in the letter.
“One such organization, Vot-ER, while claiming to be nonpartisan, has partisan leadership and has joined efforts against legislation that would promote secure elections in line with current law,” the letter continued, referring to a GOP-led proposal aiming to thwart noncitizen voting.
The AMA letter is the latest development in the GOP’s investigation into Vot-ER over possible election law violations. Vot-ER’s parent group, A Healthier Democracy, has referred to diversity, equity, and inclusion as “the bedrock of fair healthcare.” Vot-ER’s executive director, Aliya Bhatia, has donated to Biden and other Democrats, Federal Election Commission filings show.
In September, the Republican National Committee sent letters to secretaries of state in six swing states demanding that the officials monitor Vot-ER’s activity to ensure compliance with state and federal rules to safeguard election integrity. Roy, the Texas congressman, sent his own letter to Vot-ER in August raising concerns about noncitizen voting registration.
Roy and the other two lawmakers said in the Friday letter it’s a conflict of interest that Martin, Vot-ER’s founder, was invited by the Biden-Harris administration to serve on a Department of Health and Human Services advisory panel. The HHS panel that has included Martin is focused on outreach to “vulnerable and underserved patient communities,” the Washington Examiner reported.
The AMA has promoted Vot-ER’s activities on its website, including in a 2022 blog post called “Another question for patients: Are you registered to vote?” The AMA hosted Bhatia, the executive director of Vot-ER, for a 2022 event on voter registration.
“We strongly encourage the AMA to reverse course away from efforts that undermine the AMA’s core mission of promoting the ‘art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health,’” Higgins, Roy, and Biggs wrote in the Friday letter.
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“The politicization of healthcare provides no benefit to medical providers or patients,” the letter continued. “When patients seek medical advice from a doctor, the expectation is that such conversations are beyond the realm of partisanship, which even seemingly neutral questions can incite.”
The AMA and Vot-ER did not reply to requests for comment.
