President Donald Trump has initiated a comprehensive strategy to influence federal elections in 2026 and 2028 through executive orders, personnel changes, and legal challenges, according to a report by the Brennan Center for Justice. The nonpartisan voting rights organization characterizes these actions as a “concerted strategy” to undermine election integrity.
Since taking office in January, Trump has installed loyalists in key positions at the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Department of Defense. Unlike his first term, when officials like former Attorney General William Barr refused requests to seize voting machines, Trump’s current appointees include individuals who supported his claims about the 2020 election.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon all previously endorsed Trump’s election fraud assertions. Ed Martin, a right-wing attorney, now leads a Justice Department task force examining the alleged “weaponization” of the federal government.
Sean Morales-Doyle, director of the voting rights program at the Brennan Center, indicated that this represents an unprecedented intrusion by the White House into election operations. He noted that many strategies previously developed by election denial movements are now originating from within the federal administration.
On March 25, Trump issued a sweeping executive order directing the Election Assistance Commission to mandate proof of citizenship requirements for voting and rescind certifications for most voting machines. The order also instructed the Department of Homeland Security to obtain complete voter files from every state, including sensitive data like Social Security numbers.
Federal judges have blocked portions of the executive order, including the citizenship proof requirement and most other provisions. However, litigation challenging the voting machine decertification continues. The Department of Homeland Security has requested full voter files from six states, while the Justice Department has sued North Carolina and Orange County, California, seeking access to voter data.
David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, observed that this Justice Department operates differently than previous administrations, including Trump’s first term. He suggested the department functions more like 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 the offices of the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey and Washington, D.C. These offices, previously held by Trump’s former lawyer Alina Habba and former Fox News anchor Jeanine Pirro, respectively, are targeting and threatening election officials through Martin’s Weaponization Working Group.
The administration has also dismissed federal prosecutors and inspectors general, including those who worked on cases related to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Trump removed civil service protections from thousands of federal workers and fired large numbers of career employees, potentially taking years or decades to restore their institutional knowledge.
Beyond personnel changes, Trump has attempted to reclaim presidential authority over federal spending through “impoundment,” despite Supreme Court rulings from the 1970s rejecting this approach during Richard Nixon’s presidency. Russ Vought, Trump’s choice to head the Office of Management and Budget, previously issued a memo outlining legal justification for allowing presidents this power.
On Monday evening, Trump issued an order freezing spending on grant and assistance programs, including Medicaid. Two federal judges subsequently blocked the order, but administration officials indicated this represented the first step in reclaiming unilateral spending control. A private memo obtained by HuffPost revealed the freeze as part of a broader impoundment strategy.
Vought argued the Constitution envisioned presidents with greater spending control to ensure “faithful stewardship of public funds.” However, the Supreme Court previously determined that sweeping policy initiatives require validation from Congress rather than unilateral presidential action.
The Brennan Center report details how states, election officials, and voting advocates are fighting these federal interventions. Morales-Doyle emphasized that “What we are witnessing now is that Trump, from day one of this administration, has started putting the wheels in motion to undermine elections.”
The administration’s approach differs significantly from Trump’s 2020 post-election efforts, which Morales-Doyle described as haphazard and desperate. With four years of planning and a Republican-controlled Congress, Trump returned to office with time to implement a more systematic strategy.
These actions occur alongside Trump’s broader executive agenda, including issuing approximately 100 executive orders on inauguration day, implementing mass deportation policies, and pardoning January 6 participants. The administration has defended, hired, or pardoned individuals involved in previous election subversion attempts while threatening those who historically protected election integrity.
