Trump Uses Federal Power to Tighten Grip on 2026 Midterms

President Donald Trump is executing a broad, multi-pronged campaign to exert unprecedented federal control over the 2026 U.S. midterm election process, according to a comprehensive report by USA TODAY. The actions include firing all remaining members of the bipartisan Election Assistance Commission (EAC), pushing the SAVE America Act, deploying Department of Justice monitors to key jurisdictions, and pressuring states to hand over voter registration data. Critics argue these moves represent a systematic effort to suppress Democratic turnout and undermine the independence of American elections, while the administration maintains they are long-overdue reforms to prevent voter fraud.

The EAC Firings: An Agency Left Without Leadership

On July 9, Trump fired the two Democratic commissioners of the Election Assistance Commission — Chairman Thomas Hicks and Benjamin Hovland — via email. Republican Commissioner Christy McCormick was allowed to resign, while a fourth commissioner, Donald Palmer, had voluntarily departed earlier in 2026. This leaves the four-member commission with no commissioners, rendering it unable to take official action, as reported by Votebeat.

The EAC, created by Congress in 2002 following the disputed 2000 presidential election, is the only federal agency devoted solely to election administration. Its responsibilities include distributing federal election funds, maintaining the national mail voter registration form, testing and certifying voting systems, and offering guidance to state and local election officials. With no commissioners, the agency cannot certify voting systems, update guidelines, or distribute federal election funds — all critical functions with the midterms just months away.

The White House defended the firings by citing the Supreme Court’s recent 6-3 ruling in Trump v. Slaughter, which granted the president power to fire leaders of independent federal agencies at will. “The Slaughter decision gives the President precedence to do so,” a White House official told CNBC.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer condemned the move. “Firing every remaining member of the bipartisan Election Assistance Commission months before the midterms is a brazen attempt to seize control of our elections before a single vote is cast,” Schumer said, according to USA TODAY.

The SAVE America Act: A Legislative Push for Voter ID

At the center of Trump’s campaign is the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require documentary proof of citizenship to register for federal elections, photo identification to vote, and would sharply restrict mail-in voting nationwide. The bill passed the House in February 2026 on a near-party-line vote of 218-213 but has stalled in the Senate, where Republicans lack the 60 votes needed to overcome the filibuster, as BBC News reports.

Trump has made the SAVE Act a legislative priority, threatening on July 10 to veto a bipartisan housing affordability bill unless it includes SAVE Act provisions. “It’ll guarantee the midterms,” Trump said of the legislation. “If you don’t get it, big trouble, my opinion.”

An estimated 21 million Americans lack documents proving citizenship readily available, and 2.6 million lack any form of government-issued photo ID, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. The New Yorker’s Sue Halpern noted that 69 million American women who changed their names after marriage could face additional hurdles under the legislation.

DOJ Actions and Federal Oversight

The Justice Department, under Attorney General Pam Bondi and Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, has taken an aggressive approach. The DOJ has sued at least 29 states and the District of Columbia over their refusal to hand over voter registration data, losing most cases. It has also sent letters to all 50 states warning election officials they could face criminal charges for knowingly allowing non-citizens to vote, and deployed DOJ monitors to 15 jurisdictions in six states for upcoming primaries.

“This is not about administrative errors; it’s about knowing failures to act,” Dhillon told USA TODAY on July 12. “Election officials need to stop hiding the ball. Two-thirds of them are hiding their voter rolls from us,” she said on Newsmax.

Conservative election law expert Hans von Spakovsky defended the DOJ’s actions as routine. “The Justice Department has sent out observers to selected jurisdictions around the country in every single federal election since the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965,” he told USA TODAY. “There is nothing unusual about this at all.”

However, Jessica Huseman, editorial director of Votebeat, told PBS that instances of illegal voting are “really, really small numbers,” adding that “the suggestion that election administrators are knowingly allowing people who are not qualified to vote to cast a ballot stretches the imagination.”

Executive Orders and Legal Challenges

Trump has also pursued executive action. In March 2025, he issued an executive order seeking to overhaul election rules, including requiring proof of citizenship to register and restricting mail voting. A federal judge blocked key parts, ruling Trump lacks the legal authority to compile a national citizen or voter list. A second executive order on March 31, 2026, sought to create a federal list of U.S. citizens eligible to vote.

Multiple audits have found no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Georgia’s review of 1.11 million ballots in June 2026 found only 23 discrepancies, according to Gabriel Sterling, a former senior Republican elections official in the state.

Implications for the Midterms and Beyond

The short-term consequences are stark: the EAC is paralyzed, state and local officials face unprecedented federal pressure while losing federal support, and legal battles over the scope of presidential power are likely to intensify. In the long term, critics warn of a fundamental shift from the traditional state-led election system established by the Constitution toward federalization of elections, potential disenfranchisement of millions of eligible voters, and continued erosion of public trust in democratic institutions.

David Axelrod, founder of the University of Chicago Institute of Politics, wrote on X that “all the signals are flashing red” after Trump’s firing of the EAC commissioners. As the 2026 midterms approach, the nation faces an unprecedented test of whether its election infrastructure can withstand pressure from the very federal government designed to protect it.