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By Dan Gooding
Associate News Editor
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President Donald Trump gave a somewhat vague answer Tuesday when asked whether he and his team planned to declare a national emergency ahead of the midterm elections in an effort to boost his voting proposals.
The president was speaking to Wayne Allyn Root on Real America's Voice, with the host asking about plans for voter ID and limits to mail-in ballots laid out in the SAVE America Act, which the U.S. Senate has yet to pass—something which has frustrated Trump.
"Stranger things have happened," Trump said when asked about the power he has to declare a national emergency. "I'll leave it at that."
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Trump and other members of his administration have repeatedly said that voter ID and other measures included in the bill are necessary to ensure the integrity of elections, with the president also saying he believes Republicans need the measures in order to win.
Critics of the legislation say it would prevent thousands of Americans from voting because they do not possess the forms of identification that would be needed, including passports. Concerns have also been raised that a national emergency around elections could lead to results being challenged or overturned.
Reacting to Trump's comments, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer posted on X, "Donald Trump wants to take over American elections. Senate Democrats are prepared to combat his unprecedented, illegal efforts at every turn. Your vote belongs to you. We will ensure it stays that way."
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email Tuesday afternoon.
Could Trump Declare a National Emergency?
The U.S. Constitution assigns primary responsibility for election administration to states, with Congress holding significant authority over federal election rules.
A strong consensus among election-law experts has been that a national emergency would not automatically allow the president the power to rewrite state election laws, postpone elections, ban mail voting, or impose new voter qualifications unilaterally.
...
There have been multiple reports of a draft executive order in which the president would invoke foreign election interference as justification for emergency measures, though even supporters of the concept have acknowledged the Constitution gives states and legislatures control over elections.
Critics have argued any attempt to impose nationwide voting rules through emergency powers would face immediate court challenges.
Jeffrey Toobin, chief legal analyst for CNN, spoke to Newsweek's The 1600 podcast about the ways in which Trump could intervene in the midterms. He told host Carlo Versano that the president's efforts to curb mail-in voting could hurt Republicans just as much as, or worse than, Democrats.
"To this day, it's unclear which party is helped by mail-in voting," Toobin said. "Going back a decade or two, it was Republicans who all wanted mail-in voting, and some people still think Republicans benefit more by mail-in voting. So some of this stuff is not only pernicious, it is just mysterious."
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Where Does the SAVE America Act Stand?
As of Tuesday, the SAVE America Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act) has not passed the Senate and has not become law. The bill has cleared the House multiple times, but Senate Republicans have been unable to assemble enough support to move the full package across the finish line.
- The bill would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and would add a federal photo ID requirement for voting.
- Republicans succeeded earlier this year in advancing the legislation to Senate debate, but that did not guarantee final passage.
- On August 7, Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Trump, and a group of conservative senators reached an agreement to defer action on much of the SAVE America Act until after the August recess because supporters lacked the votes to pass the full bill.
- Senate Republicans are now considering a narrower vote focused on the photo ID requirement, rather than the full package, per The Hill.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and Geoffrey Rowland
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