Trump suggests Republicans should nationalize voting. Here’s what to know.

Washington — President Trump suggested Monday that Republicans should “nationalize” voting, the latest escalation in his and his administration’s efforts to run for federal office before the 2026 midterm elections.

During a podcast interview with former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, Mr. Trump reiterated his claims that people residing illegally in the United States are voting in federal elections and urged Republicans to “take control of the vote” in at least 15 states.

“Republicans should say ‘we want to take power,'” Mr. Trump said Monday. “The Republicans should nationalize the vote. And then we have states that are so crooked, and they’re counting votes.”

A day later, Mr. Trump said at an event in the Oval Office, surrounded by lawmakers and members of his Cabinet: “I want elections to be honest, and if a state can’t have an election, I think the people behind me should do something.”

The Constitution gives states – not the president – ​​the power to hold elections

The Elections Clause of the Constitution gives states the power to set the rules for federal elections, and offices at the state and local levels oversee their administration, although Congress can adopt election regulations in some cases.

As a result, the president has virtually no role in overseeing elections, said David Becker, CBS News election law contributor and executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research.

“The elections clause of the Constitution couldn’t be clearer,” Becker said Tuesday on CBS News’ “The Takeout with Major Garrett.” “This is actually one of the areas that the Founders carved out, specifically to exclude the executive from any power in elections.”

Asked by reporters Tuesday about these constitutional limits, Mr. Trump said that states “can administer elections, but they have to do it honestly.” He also called states “agents of the federal government” and argued that federal authorities should be more involved.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CBS News senior correspondent Weijia Jiang earlier Tuesday that Mr. Trump “believes in the Constitution of the United States” but also believes there has been “a lot of fraud and irregularities.”

Trump wants to expand his control over elections

The president has accused Democrats of allowing undocumented immigrants in their states to vote in order to shore up their support, and has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that the 2020 election was rife with fraud.

Dozens of lawsuits filed by his campaign and GOP allies that sought to overturn the 2020 election results were dismissed, and Bill Barr, who served as attorney general during Mr. Trump’s first term, told the Justice Department. found no evidence widespread fraud.

Still, Mr. Trump and his administration have undertaken efforts to exert more control over the election. The president signed a decree last year, which aimed to overhaul elections, including requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote. It is a crime for non-citizens to vote in federal elections and violators face up to a year in prison.

But the directive has faced several legal challenges, and parts, including provisions on proof of citizenship, have been blocked by federal judges.

The Justice Department also required complete voter rolls from nearly every state and Washington, D.C., according to the Brennan Center for Justice. He has filed lawsuits against two dozen states and the District of Columbia for refusing to turn over the records, which include voters’ addresses, dates of birth and partial Social Security numbers.

Mr. Trump also urged Republican state lawmakers to redraw their congressional districts to help the Republican Party maintain its majority in the House. After Texas adopted new voting limits which aimed to give Republicans five additional seats in the House, California approved his own plan to make five seats more favorable to Democrats. Several other states have also decided to rethink their Congressional map.

Then, last week, the FBI executed a search warrant at an election office in Fulton County, Georgia, and seized ballots from the 2020 presidential election. Mr. Trump has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, where he lost to former President Joe Biden, was “rigged” against him.

The president told Bongino that “you’re going to see some interesting things happen” regarding Georgia, and again claimed without evidence that he won the 2020 election.

The FBI’s research, as well as the presence on site of the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, alarms triggered among Democrats on Capitol Hill. Gabbard told lawmakers in a letter Monday that Mr. Trump had asked her to scout the Fulton County election center. She also acknowledged facilitating a phone call between FBI agents in Atlanta and the president, and said Mr. Trump wanted to “personally thank the agents for their work.” Gabbard said the president asked no questions and issued no directives.

The New York Times reported earlier Monday that Gabbard helped arrange the call between Mr. Trump and FBI agents after the search.

Mr. Trump also supported the SAVE Act, a bill backed by congressional Republicans that would require state election officials to obtain proof of citizenship in person from people registering to vote. Leavitt said Tuesday that the president’s comments about election takeover referred to that legislation.

“President Trump cares deeply about the safety and security of our elections – that’s why he urged Congress to pass the SAVE Act and other legislative proposals that would establish a uniform photo ID standard for voting, ban no-excuse absentee voting, and end the practice of ballot harvesting,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said in response to Mr. Trump’s comments.

Congressional Republicans oppose nationalization of elections

The president’s call to “nationalize the elections” is met with refusal from Republican leaders on Capitol Hill. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters that while he supports a plan to require a photo ID to vote, he does not support federalizing elections.

“I’m a big believer in decentralized, distributed power, and I think it’s harder to hack 50 election systems than it is to hack just one,” he told reporters on Capitol Hill. “So, in my opinion, it’s still a system that has worked pretty well.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson also defended the system of states administering elections and said Mr. Trump was “expressing frustration” with the integrity of the election.

“It’s a system that works well, as long as states make ensuring the integrity of our elections a priority, and we have real concerns about some of the blue states, frankly, that are not doing very well,” he told reporters. “So it’s the president’s: he’s expressing this frustration. We all have it. We’re looking for solutions.”