Democrats Condemn Alleged MAGA Plan to Seize Control of US Elections
Democratic leaders have reacted with fury to reports that a group of MAGA activists is circulating a draft executive order. This document allegedly uses debunked claims of Chinese interference in the 2020 election as a pretext for President Donald Trump to declare a national emergency and seize control of the upcoming midterm elections.
Constitutional Crisis Feared
If signed, the reported 17-page order would empower the president to ban mail-in ballots and voting machines as unsafe. This action would effectively bypass Article I, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution, which explicitly assigns all authority over elections to state legislatures and Congress. The move has been described by Democrats as a direct assault on the foundational principles of American democracy.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and New York Representative Joe Morelle issued a joint statement, accusing Trump of a clear intent to subvert the electoral process. "Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants to nationalize our elections, because he intends to steal them," they declared. "We reject the legality of any executive order based on debunked claims of Chinese interference."
Intelligence Claims Disputed
Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner, the ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, immediately denied the existence of any such national emergency involving China. "We’ve been raising the alarm for weeks about President Trump’s attacks on our elections," Warner stated. "This is a plot to interfere with the will of voters and undermine both the rule of law and public confidence in our elections."
These assertions are supported by a 2021 U.S. intelligence community assessment, which found no evidence that any foreign actor, including China, successfully meddled in the 2020 presidential election. The review concluded that while China considered attempting influence, it ultimately decided against proceeding.
White House and Legal Perspectives
A White House official, speaking to The Independent, downplayed the reports as mere speculation. The official noted that Trump's staff regularly communicates with outside advocates but stressed that any talk of specific policies remains unconfirmed.
However, conservative lawyer Peter Ticktin, who represents jailed former Colorado county clerk Tina Peters, acknowledged the constitutional norm that presidents should not administer elections due to their vested interest. Yet, he argued for exceptional measures. "But here we have a situation where the president is aware that there are foreign interests that are interfering in our election processes," Ticktin told The Washington Post. "That causes a national emergency where the president has to be able to deal with it."
On his podcast, former Trump advisor Steve Bannon echoed these sentiments, claiming without evidence, "There is no doubt the [Chinese Communist Party] took an active role in removing President Trump from office."
Legislative and Judicial Pushback
California Democratic Representative Ted Lieu took to social media to emphasize constitutional limits. "There’s no national emergency exception to Art 1, Sec 4 of the Constitution," he wrote. "States regulate elections unless Congress passes law. Courts will slap trump down just like they did with his illegal tariffs."
The controversy also ties into the stalled SAVE Act, a Republican-backed bill that has passed the House but faces Senate hurdles. The proposed legislation aims to establish a uniform photo ID standard for voting, prohibit no-excuse mail-in voting, and end ballot harvesting. President Trump has publicly expressed frustration over the bill's delay, hinting at potential executive action in a recent social media post.
Despite the heated rhetoric and alleged planning, the evidence for an imminent foreign threat to U.S. elections remains scant. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley previously sought to release FBI records on alleged Chinese efforts involving fraudulent driver's licenses for mail ballots, but no widespread conspiracy has been substantiated.
As the midterms approach, Democratic leaders vow to resist any attempts to nationalize election administration, framing the reported MAGA plan as an unprecedented threat to American democratic institutions and the will of the voters.
