State Rep. John Roth on Wednesday pledged his continued support for Michigan’s Office of the Auditor General (OAG) as it faces partisan attacks by Michigan Democrats. A key function of the auditor general is to work with lawmakers from both parties to carefully craft audit requests to ensure they fit the purview of the OAG.

After the 2020 election, Auditor General Doug Ringler offered feedback to legislators preparing an audit request to examine the state’s election procedures. When the audit report was released, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, praised the OAG’s professionalism and accuracy. Now, after multiple audits exposed billions of dollars in fraudulent spending and bureaucratic mistakes in the Whitmer administration, Democrats are dubbing Ringler as a partisan hack for simply doing his job.

“Someone forgot to tell Michigan Democrats that complete control of state government doesn’t mean that everyone in a position of power is required to do their bidding,” said Roth, R-Interlochen. “The auditor general is the perfect example of an official who puts politics aside and looks at the facts. All the OAG does is consider legitimate concerns regarding state agencies, request documents from the agencies in question, and make determinations based on the available facts. Nothing about that office is partisan.”

The effort against the OAG comes after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recommended a net $8.3 million cut to OAG funding in her annual budget proposal, which Ringler noted would impair oversight and could jeopardize billions of dollars in federal funding. The OAG’s nonpartisan audits have repeatedly exposed failures in the Whitmer administration.

“Instead of accepting that problems exist within her own administration, the governor would rather take shots at the OAG in the press and threaten it through her budget recommendations,” Roth said. “Luckily, the people of Michigan are smarter than the governor realizes. People back home have been loud and clear. They want me to do everything I can to defend the OAG so it can continue its important work of exposing government corruption.”

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