A draft executive order circulating among Trump allies could allow a “national emergency” declaration over U.S. elections — but constitutional experts say the president does not have that authority.
Allies of Donald Trump are reportedly circulating a draft executive order that would allow the president to declare a “national emergency” over U.S. elections — and potentially seize sweeping federal control over how Americans vote.
According to The Washington Post, pro-Trump attorneys and MAGA activists have been shopping around a 17-page draft order that claims foreign interference — specifically pointing at China — justifies emergency presidential powers over elections.
U.S. intelligence agencies have repeatedly said there is no evidence China altered the outcome of the 2020 election in favor of either candidate.
Yet the draft allegedly argues that foreign interference concerns would allow Trump to ban mail-in ballots, enforce stricter federal voter ID rules, and restrict or eliminate certain voting machines labeled as “foreign interference vectors”
Critics say it’s less about election security — and more about control.
Multiple constitutional experts have reportedly labeled the idea “blatantly illegal,” “laughable,” and legally dead on arrival.”
Why is that? It’s because under the U.S. Constitution, states control elections. From ballot design to vote counting, that authority has historically rested with state governments — not the Oval Office.
Even federal emergency powers have limits. And according to scholars, those limits do not include nationalizing election administration.
