U.S. President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress have set off alarm bells ahead of the November midterm elections. In a recent podcast interview, the president told former deputy FBI director Dan Bongino that Republicans should nationalize voting by taking control of election administration in 15 states. Under the Constitution, elections are administered by state and local governments unless Congress enacts legislation to alter that arrangement. Even after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt attempted to walk back the controversial comments, Trump refused to back down.

Nor was Trump’s interview an isolated episode. His remarks were part of a broader pattern. Election experts watched in shock as the FBI seized voting records from Georgia’s Fulton County, a focal point of repeated, unproven allegations of election fraud by Trump and his allies in 2020. The presence of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, reportedly speaking on the phone to the president, heightened concerns about this being the early stages of an effort to subvert the midterm elections. All of this has compounded fears that federal immigration agents, who have already wreaked havoc in several cities, may be deployed around voting places in Democratic strongholds to deter turnout.

U.S. President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress have set off alarm bells ahead of the November midterm elections. In a recent podcast interview, the president told former deputy FBI director Dan Bongino that Republicans should nationalize voting by taking control of election administration in 15 states. Under the Constitution, elections are administered by state and local governments unless Congress enacts legislation to alter that arrangement. Even after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt attempted to walk back the controversial comments, Trump refused to back down.

Nor was Trump’s interview an isolated episode. His remarks were part of a broader pattern. Election experts watched in shock as the FBI seized voting records from Georgia’s Fulton County, a focal point of repeated, unproven allegations of election fraud by Trump and his allies in 2020. The presence of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, reportedly speaking on the phone to the president, heightened concerns about this being the early stages of an effort to subvert the midterm elections. All of this has compounded fears that federal immigration agents, who have already wreaked havoc in several cities, may be deployed around voting places in Democratic strongholds to deter turnout.

Congressional Republicans have been making moves as well. Since the Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision in 2013 struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Republicans at both the national and state levels have pushed to impose new barriers to voting, often justified by disproven claims of widespread fraud. The House of Representatives recently passed the SAVE America Act, which would require stringent photo identification using documents not readily accessible to many citizens, such as passports or birth........

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