Trump’s threats to U.S. elections loom large at House Dems policy retreat

House Democrats this week laid out plans to counter President Donald Trump’s rhetoric of “nationalizing” this year’s elections ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

MPs met at annual policy meetings to set their agenda for the year and develop their campaign messages. They met in Northern Virginia this week following Trump’s growing calls for voter ID requirements at the polls and his desire to require documentation to be submitted to register to vote; Both changes could disenfranchise voters across the United States. A pending Supreme Court decision on the Voting Rights Act also looms large, and Trump has said he is considering ways to impose the changes he wants even if Congress doesn’t pass it.

“This is a five-alarm fire,” said Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala. Congressional Black Caucus Press conference at the close of the retreat on Friday. “We will fight back and use every tool in the toolkit.”

Sewell, who is also a member of the House Administration Committee, which has jurisdiction over federal elections, said options include litigation, legislation and action. However, Democrats, who are in the minority in both chambers, have somewhat limited work ahead of the important 2026 midterm elections that will determine control of the House of Representatives.

” the vast majority White House press secretary Abigail Jackson said in an emailed statement that 50 percent of Americans support President Trump’s common-sense election integrity agenda, and Democratic politicians should, too.

Trump has refocused on the election in recent months, rehashing some of his old, unsubstantiated claims about the election. There is fraud in the 2020 presidential contest” And non-citizen voting. It is illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections, and examples are rare. In January, the FBI seized ballots from Fulton County, Ga., which Trump lost to Joe Biden.

The president recently called for the “nationalization” of elections. He pressured the Senate to pass a controversial bill called the Save America Act, which would require proof of citizenship and a photo ID to register to vote.

“President Trump is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of elections, and this includes error-free, fully accurate and up-to-date voter rolls, including illegally registered non-citizen voters,” Jackson said in the statement. “[The] “The President also called on Congress to pass the SAVE Act and other bills that would create a uniform photo ID standard for voting, ban no-excuse mail-in voting, and end the practice of ballot harvesting to ensure the safety and security of our elections.”

Trump earlier this month threatened to unilaterally impose voter ID restrictions ahead of the November election. MS NOW reported On Thursday, he instructed White House lawyers to review the feasibility of such an order. And Washington Post A group of pro-Trump activists reportedly circulated a draft executive order to accomplish this goal, based on China’s interference in the 2020 election.

Rep. Joe Morelle, D-Y., said these initiatives have “shaky” legal standing.

“I’m extremely skeptical of any evidence they suddenly have after six years,” Morelle said in an interview at the rest stop.

As the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, Morelle is leading House Democrats’ response to the Trump administration’s election priorities. It is also preparing for the possible consequences of a challenge to parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 if it is approved. Could eliminate some districts where Democrats hold majority-minority control. The Supreme Court is expected to announce its decision on this case between now and June.

Morelle said the Democratic effort includes war-gaming, litigation and messaging across different potential election scenarios. Meanwhile, Sewell said the CBC has held several all-day hearings on voting rights to help develop its response.

“One of the things that I think we really need to focus on, especially in the wake of the ballot seizures in Fulton County, is that there needs to be a strong legal basis challenging what they did on that front,” Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., said at the CBC press conference.

Democrats also expressed fears that Trump could send Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and National Guard members to polling places as a way to suppress voters in November.

“Every year we do a grassroots study involving people, poll watchers and the like. But this time it has to be amped up on steroids,” Ivey said. “We’ve seen this movie before. It’s obviously been a long time coming, but I think we need people trained and ready at all these polling places.”

Still, after Trump’s messages about threats to democracy It fell in the 2024 cycleThey face a strategic challenge: Would raising the election issue destroy their message about the economy?

D-Calif., CBC and a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “You can walk and chew gum at the same time,” her rep Maxine Waters said in an interview. Waters said the biggest concern is affordability, but “Democrats need to be very worried about what the president is doing, which is literally voter suppression.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee and former member of the House Select Committee on January 6. and Morelle said Democrats don’t have to choose one or the other.

“I don’t buy the argument that we either need to talk about popular democracy or we need to talk about middle-class affordability,” Raskin said in an interview. “To me, these are the same issue. We need a government that will be a tool for the common good of all people, not a tool for the man who comes in and his family and friends to enrich themselves through corruption.”

“I don’t think so [Americans] Think about it in a slightly esoteric, theoretical way, ‘democracy needs to be defended,'” Morelle said. “I think their awareness is growing, that our access to the ballot has a lot to do with the decisions that will affect my family’s future.”