President Donald Trump has launched an extensive campaign to disrupt future federal elections through a coordinated strategy involving executive orders, strategic staffing decisions, and legal maneuvers, according to voting rights advocates and government watchdog groups. Since taking office in January, Trump has systematically installed loyalists in key positions while dismantling election security protections and threatening election officials who previously resisted his efforts.
The Brennan Center for Justice released a report highlighting how Trump’s actions represent an unprecedented intrusion by the White House into election administration. Sean Morales-Doyle, director of the voting rights and elections program at the center, indicated that these efforts constitute a concerted strategy to undermine federal elections in 2026 and 2028.
Trump’s second administration differs significantly from his first term in its approach to key appointments. Unlike his previous tenure, where experienced officials like Attorney General William Barr refused to seize voting machines at Trump’s request, the current administration is staffed with individuals who supported Trump’s claims about the 2020 election. Key appointments include Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, and Ed Martin, who now leads a Justice Department task force on the weaponization of the federal government.
On March 25, Trump issued a sweeping executive order attempting to directly set state election law despite having limited constitutional authority in election administration. The order directed the Election Assistance Commission to mandate proof of citizenship requirements for voting, rescind certifications for nearly all voting machines, and ordered the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Government Efficiency to obtain complete voter files from every state, including sensitive data like Social Security numbers.
Federal judges have already intervened to block portions of the executive order. One judge blocked the proof of citizenship requirement for voting, while another blocked most of the order from taking effect. Litigation challenging the decertification of voting machines remains ongoing. The Department of Homeland Security has sent letters to election officials in six states seeking their full voter files, while the Department of Justice has sued North Carolina and Orange County, California, to obtain such access.
David Becker, executive director of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research, noted that this Department of Justice has acted differently from every previous administration, including Trump’s first term. He characterized their actions as resembling a political campaign arm of the White House rather than an independent law enforcement agency.
Trump’s appointees have established election integrity task forces in U.S. Attorney offices in New Jersey and Washington, D.C., along with the Weaponization Working Group headed by Martin. These entities have begun targeting and threatening election officials through investigations and public statements. The administration has also defended, hired, or pardoned individuals involved in previous election subversion efforts.
The current effort represents a significant escalation from Trump’s 2020 election challenges, which Morales-Doyle described as haphazard and desperate. With four years of planning and a Republican Congress, Trump returned to office with time to implement a more systematic approach. Morales-Doyle emphasized that Trump has started putting wheels in motion from day one to ensure those carrying out future plans will not refuse orders as they did previously.
Many strategies and tactics previously developed by election denier movements are now originating from within the federal administration itself, marking an unprecedented shift in how election challenges are being orchestrated. This has forced voting rights advocates to fight the federal government directly rather than fringe outside actors.
Political strategist James Carville has warned that Trump’s actions represent a real-time catastrophe and predicted significant political consequences. Carville pointed to Virginia’s November 5 gubernatorial election as a key test, suggesting federal employees and their families in northern Virginia will vote heavily against Trump-aligned candidates.
Trump has made election subversion central to his political career since launching it by questioning President Barack Obama’s eligibility. He has claimed every election since 2012 that did not favor Republicans was rigged with illegal votes and fraud. This campaign culminated after his 2020 loss when he illegally attempted to remain in power and sparked the January 6, 2021, insurrection.
In a desperate effort, Trump successfully urged Texas Governor Greg Abbott to call a special legislative session aimed at redrawing congressional maps with the goal of gaining five additional Republican-leaning U.S. House seats ahead of the 2026 midterms. In protest, a group of Texas Democratic representatives fled the state to deny Republicans a quorum required to advance the redistricting plan.
Meanwhile, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom of California responded by launching the “Election Rigging Response Act,” proposing to temporarily override California’s independent redistricting commission and leave it up to the voters to decide if they want to redraw maps to potentially add five Democratic seats, contingent on Texas carrying through with its plan.
The proposal is set for a special statewide vote on November 4, 2025, where Californians will decide whether to temporarily bypass the state’s independent redistricting commission. Supporters say the move is intended to counterbalance Texas’ planned changes, while critics warn it could alter long-standing redistricting practices.
At the press conference launching California’s initiative to redraw its congressional maps, Governor Newsom urged the public to pay close attention to the escalating threat to democracy. He warned, “Wake up, America. You will not have a country if [Trump] rigs this election,” emphasizing that acts like the deployment of armed federal agents in Los Angeles on the doorsteps of the press conference location, underscored how dire the situation had become. He further framed the measure as a necessary response to what he portrayed as undemocratic interference in the electoral process, declaring, “It is a five-alarm fire for democracy in the United States of America” and asserting that California must act decisively to defend democratic norms.