Trump Allies Urge Use of Emergency Powers Before 2026 Midterm Elections

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The 2026 midterm primaries have officially kicked off, and already there’s a question that won’t go away: could the federal government actually interfere in how you vote this November?

It sounds dramatic. But Trump allies have been pushing a real idea behind closed doors, and it deserves a closer look.

The concept is being called an “election emergency.” The logic goes like this: Trump has argued for years, even before his 2020 loss, that American elections are being manipulated. If that’s true, his supporters say, then it qualifies as a national emergency and the president should have the power to step in and change things. A draft emergency declaration that has been circulating among Trump allies lays out exactly what those changes would look like. NPR reviewed the document, and it reads like a wish list. It would end no-excuse mail-in voting for most people, require all ballots to be printed only in English, and bring in hand counts. These aren’t small tweaks. They would fundamentally change how millions of Americans cast their votes.

Now, did Trump write this? He says no. When asked directly, he claimed he had never seen the document. But he also posted on social media around the same time about a legal theory that would hand him executive authority to make those exact same changes. Make of that what you will.

The lawyer actively circulating this draft is Peter Ticktin, a far-right attorney who also happens to represent Tina Peters, the former Colorado county clerk sitting in prison right now for letting unauthorized people access voting machines. Ticktin has confirmed he is in contact with White House staff. He genuinely believes the country’s survival depends on what he calls making elections secure.

Here is the part that actually matters though. Legal experts say this whole plan would go nowhere. The Constitution clearly says that states run their own elections. The president does not get to override that. Rebecca Green, who leads the election law program at William and Mary, says the founders deliberately kept elections out of presidential control. Another expert, Justin Levitt, pointed out that states could flat out ignore any such order because the federal government simply does not have that authority.

What about troops or ICE agents showing up at polling places? Steve Bannon called for exactly that on his podcast. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to guarantee it wouldn’t happen. A senior Homeland Security official named Heather Honey did make that guarantee, telling election officials directly there would be no ICE presence at polls. But officials are nervous, partly because Honey herself previously spread misinformation about elections before joining DHS.

So yes, the pressure is real. But the legal roadblocks are solid. What happens between now and November is still very much worth watching.