Trump’s Most Dangerous Power Grab
Donald Trump has signed more than 100 executive orders since retaking office. Some are little more than hate-filled press releases, while many have caused unnecessary pain and hardship. Dozens have resulted in court cases that the administration has lost.
No executive order has the potential to do more permanent damage to our constitutional system than the one Trump signed last week targeting free and fair elections. Titled Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections, it is both an unconstitutional power grab and a clear violation of federal law.
Trump asserts powers he does not have, tramples over federalism and contravenes the Constitution’s plain text. If there were an award for the most illegal and unconstitutional action by a president, this order would be a top contender.
It was only a matter of time before it was challenged in court. Already, three separate lawsuits were filed to do just that.
My law firm — Elias Law Group — filed a 70-page complaint in Washington, D.C., federal court on behalf of the leading committees comprising the Democratic Party — the Democratic National Committee, the Senatorial and Congressional Campaign Committees and the Democratic Governors Association. Illustrating the seriousness of the issue, both Senate and House Democratic leaders joined the suit as well.
Separately, two groups of nonprofit organizations have filed similar lawsuits, also in Washington, D.C. Given the gravity of the issue, I expect these will not be the last actions challenging Trump’s efforts to undermine free and fair elections.
Trump is not done attacking our elections. He and his supporters plot every day to undermine the right to vote.
Donald Trump has contempt for democracy. While he believes politicians can be intimidated and courts can be manipulated through aggressive and unethical lawyering, he knows elections are more unpredictable. Voters can be as easily repelled by his vulgar style of politics as they are swayed by his false bravado. He may be able to effectively vilify individual judges, but attacking tens of millions of voters falls flat.
His only tool to manage an unmanageable electorate is voter suppression and election subversion. That is why election denialism and false claims of fraud have always been the unbending core of his political movement.
Recall that Trump lost the Republican Iowa caucus and immediately claimed fraud. When he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton, he claimed fraud. As president, he advocated false conspiracy theories to justify restricting voting rights.
After he lost in 2020, he not only embraced those theories more tightly but flooded the courts with meritless litigation. When that failed, he incited an insurrection at the Capitol to attempt to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s election.
In the years that followed, Trump made denying the results of the 2020 election a litmus test for his supporters. Marco Rubio might support aid to Ukraine, but he had to adhere to the “Big Lie.” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. might be pro-choice, but the price of admission into Trump’s inner circle was election denialism.
Over a century ago, the Supreme Court recognized that the right to vote is “preservative of all rights.” Sixty years ago, the Court affirmed that “the right to vote freely for the candidate of one’s choice is of the essence of a democratic society.”
Donald Trump is neither a lawyer nor a scholar. He is an aspiring dictator who is more likely to read grocery store tabloids than a Supreme Court opinion. But he understands why the words of judges and justices are so powerful for his opponents and dangerous to him.
That is why he has transformed the Republican National Committee into a voter suppression and election subversion war machine. It is why he associates with a billionaire who literally hands out millions to influence elections. Most importantly, it is why he signed this ridiculously unconstitutional executive order.
The case against Trump’s anti-voting executive order will now proceed. The Department of Justice will strain credulity in making its arguments. The court hearing this case, like those hearing others, will sift through a pile of filings and render a ruling.
Soon, much of the public and media will move on to Trump’s next outrageous order or action. Perhaps it will be tariffs that stall the economy or further measures that weaken our national security. It has already been reported that he is set to punish more law firms that have failed to pay him sufficient tribute.
But I can promise you this: Trump is not done attacking our elections. He and his supporters plot every day to undermine the right to vote. They are constantly looking for opportunities to exploit weaknesses in the election system. This is their top priority.
The question for us is whether it is ours as well. For the sake of democracy, I hope it is.