President Donald Trump’s repeated calls in recent days for Republicans to “nationalize” or “take over” parts of the election process in places he calls corrupt are encountering pushback from key elected figures and commentators inside the party — at the federal level.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune perhaps put this cohort’s perspective most succinctly: “I’m not in favor of federalizing elections, no. I think that’s a constitutional issue,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
The distinction between federal officials and those at the local and state levels is significant: A combination of the Constitution, which prioritizes the latter’s role in the election process, as well as Republicans’ traditional reputation as the party of federalism, makes local and state Republican election officials a natural cohort to defend their turf. For political figures in Washington to defend it as well, however, is notable.
“I do not want to see us nationalizing elections,” Thune’s Republican Senate colleague Ron Johnson told some of his Wisconsin constituents during a telephone town hall on Tuesday. “I do believe it’s fitting and proper to set some basic standards for federal elections, like only citizens can vote in federal elections. You’ve got jurisdictions that are allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections. Once they’re registered, that bleeds into federal elections, I fear.”
A smattering of towns and cities in California, Maryland, and Vermont, most notably Oakland and San Francisco, as well as Washington, D.C., allow noncitizens to vote in at least some local elections. The Immigration Control and Financial Responsibility Act of 1996, however, explicitly bans noncitizens from casting a ballot in federal elections, under penalty of deportation (Sec. 217).
Neither Thune nor Johnson are known as public critics of President Trump. And certainly neither is House speaker Mike Johnson, who rationalized the president’s idea as “his frustration with states” but reportedly disagreed with Trump when pressed. “Asked if Republicans should take over elections, Johnson repeatedly said, ‘no.’” the Wall Street Journal wrote, comments that did not appear to be captured on camera when he spoke with reporters on Tuesday.
Other prominent Republicans who disagree more often with Trump and publicly disapproved of his latest rhetoric about elections include former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Rand Paul, and Rep. Don Bacon. Pence, in particular, touted his previous opposition to Democratic-led efforts to federalize more of the election process in 2021, through the For the People Act, a top priority then of House Democrats. “Election reform is a national imperative, but under our Constitution, election reform must be undertaken at the state level,” Pence posted on Wednesday morning to X. “Our Founders limited Congress’ role in conducting our elections for good reason: They wanted elections to be administered closest to the people, free from undue influence of the national government.”
Republican election lawyer Benjamin Ginsberg stated it similarly during a cable news appearance on Tuesday evening. “The Constitution does give the power to run elections to the states. Congress can put rules in for Senate and congressional elections. The president has zero authority under the Constitution to do what he is suggesting.”
Democratic and left-of-center opposition to President Trump has been expected. Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, who represent Fulton County, Ga., the site of an unprecedented FBI seizure of election records last week, have been particularly outspoken. Regardless of the merits, however, the political optics are unavoidable: “How an FBI raid in Georgia became a campaign opportunity for Democrats,” the Atlanta Journal-Constitution headlined its flagship political newsletter the day after the FBI executed its search warrant.
During an era when it can be difficult to separate principle from party, the pushback to Trump from major Republican voices in this instance stands out.
“As far as the time, place, and manner of elections, that, under the Constitution, is a state activity,” Paul said during a cable news appearance on Tuesday. “So, I’m not for nationalizing it.”