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Krishnamoorthi warns against Trump's plan to seize control over elections
Illinois lawmaker says using emergency authority to control elections would violate the Constitution.
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Malvika Choudhary - Fri, 06, Mar 2026
- 14:54 EST
- 38
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi / REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi raised concerns over reports that the Trump administration is considering using emergency powers to assert federal control over elections.
Expressing his concerns in a letter to President Donald Trump, The congressman cited reports that individuals working in coordination with the administration are circulating a draft executive order that would declare a national emergency and assert sweeping presidential authority over federal elections.
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Krishnamoorthi, a senior member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, said any attempt to manufacture an “emergency” to seize control over elections would cross a fundamental constitutional red line.
In a letter dated March 5, the Illinois Democrat warned that such a step “would represent an extraordinary and unlawful expansion of executive power” and emphasized that “The President does not have a role in federal elections.”
“The Constitution is clear,” Krishnamoorthi wrote. “Article I, Section 4 explicitly assigns the authority to regulate federal elections to the states and to Congress.” He added that “The Constitution does not grant the executive branch any power to rewrite election laws, ban lawful voting methods, or override state-certified systems.”
Krishnamoorthi asserted that invoking emergency powers to prohibit mail-in ballots, restrict voting machines, or impose nationwide voter identification requirements “would be unprecedented.”
“A national emergency cannot be declared simply to circumvent constitutional limits or to accomplish policy objectives that have not been enacted through the legislative process,” he wrote.
“Mail-in voting has long been a lawful and secure method relied upon by seniors, military servicemembers, and working families,” he wrote, warning that eliminating that option nationwide by executive decree “would be illegal and would undermine both the rule of law and public trust in our democratic institutions.”
Krishnamoorthi concluded by urging the president “to not proceed with any proposal that would aim to nationalize elections or attempt to assert emergency powers that our Constitution clearly does not provide.”
The letter comes amid reports that a group of lawyers and activists aligned with Trump are circulating a draft executive order that would declare a national emergency based on claims of foreign interference in the 2020 election.
The proposal, described in media reports as a 17-page document, could give the president sweeping authority over election administration ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
According to those reports, supporters of the proposal argue it could be used to mandate voter identification nationwide, require hand-counted ballots, and prohibit mail-in voting if the president declared an emergency related to election security.
In February, Krishnamoorthi had also proposed legislation known as the “Free Elections Act,” which seeks to clarify that authorities under laws such as the National Emergencies Act or the Insurrection Act cannot be used to interfere with election administration.
Discover more at New India Abroad.
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