President Trump on Tuesday did not rule out declaring a national emergency after conservative commentator Wayne Root suggested he could use emergency powers to impose new voting requirements ahead of the November midterms.
Root raised the idea during an interview with Trump while discussing the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act, legislation the president and hardline House Republicans have pushed Senate Republicans to pass for months.
The measure would require Americans to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections and show photo identification at the polls.
Root suggested Trump could act without waiting for the Senate if lawmakers fail to pass the bill.
“If you do this in the next month, we will get photo ID, proof of citizenship, and a limit to mail-in ballots and you don’t even need the Senate’s help,” Root told Trump, referring to declaring a national emergency.
Trump cut him off.
“Let me just say that stranger things have happened, okay?” the president said. “I’ll leave it at that.”
Trump did not elaborate or say whether his administration is considering such a move.
The exchange comes after Trump, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Senate conservatives reached a deal Friday to put off action on much of the SAVE America Act until after the August recess. Senators are scheduled to return to Washington on Sept. 14.
Trump has made election integrity a major part of his political agenda since losing the 2020 presidential election to former President Biden. He has falsely maintained that he won that election and has repeatedly criticized the use of mail-in ballots.
The president has also sought changes to election procedures through executive action.
Trump signed an executive order in March directing the U.S. Postal Service to restrict delivery of mail-in and absentee ballots in states that do not provide eligible voter lists to the federal government.
Postmaster General David Steiner moved ahead with the directive, telling senators in June that the policy would ensure “the right ballots are going to the right people.”
The administration’s efforts have since become tied up in federal court.
A federal judge in June blocked the administration from seeking state data on eligible voters. A separate ruling in July barred the Postal Service from implementing the delivery changes.
A federal appeals court later halted the July order, allowing the Postal Service to move forward with the changes. Trump’s executive order, however, remains blocked in nearly two dozen states under the June ruling.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, who issued that order, reinforced her block on Trump’s proposed mail-in voting restrictions Tuesday.
Any attempt by Trump to declare a national emergency and federalize control over the midterms would likely face immediate legal challenges.
Congress could also move to terminate a national emergency through a joint resolution. If Trump vetoed the resolution, lawmakers would need two-thirds majorities in both chambers to override him.
