Voting rights advocates have raised concerns that the Trump administration may attempt to “hijack” the 2026 election, following a report revealing that a senior official within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) suggested invoking a “national emergency” to justify federal intervention in state-run election processes. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that during a March call with right-wing activists, Heather Honey—a former Pennsylvania-based private investigator and prominent figure in Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 loss—proposed that the president could declare a national emergency to gain authority over election rules typically managed by states and local governments.
Honey, who has consistently promoted the baseless claim that the 2020 election was marred by widespread fraud, argued that such an action would stem from an “actual investigation” into the election outcome. However, in the United States, elections are administered at the state level, and the president holds no legal authority over their conduct. Despite this, Honey claimed the Trump administration possesses “some additional powers that don’t exist right now,” suggesting that using an investigation as a pretext could allow the federal government to mandate actions by states without congressional approval.
She acknowledged the gravity of her proposal, stating, “I don’t know if that’s really feasible and if the people around the president would let him test that theory.” This uncertainty did not deter her from advancing the idea, which aligns with broader efforts by the Election Integrity Network (EIN), a group of pro-Trump election deniers, to challenge the legitimacy of past elections and advocate for stricter voting rules.
The 2020 election underwent extensive scrutiny, including numerous state-level recounts and audits, as well as over 60 failed court challenges across state and federal jurisdictions. Many of these cases were dismissed by judges—including those appointed by Trump—for lacking merit or credible evidence. An Associated Press investigation found that only 475 ballots out of millions cast in six key battleground states were flagged as potentially affected by fraud. Even if all of those had been proven fraudulent, it would not have altered the election’s outcome.
Several aides and officials who served in Trump’s first administration testified before the January 6 commission that the president was aware he had lost the election but continued to spread false claims of fraud in an effort to retain power. Matt Crane, a former Republican election official and consultant for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), criticized those seeking to re-litigate the 2020 election, noting they “are not coming with an objective frame of mind” but instead cherry-pick facts to support preconceived narratives.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that the administration has begun reviving the election fraud narrative, with Trump appointing Kurt Olsen—a former campaign lawyer and “Stop the Steal” advocate—as a “special government employee” tasked with reinvestigating the 2020 election. Olsen has reportedly sought information from intelligence agencies and expressed interest in purging government employees deemed disloyal to the administration.
Trump has also supported proposals from the EIN, including restrictions on mail-in voting, early voting, and measures to make it easier to challenge election results. These ideas have influenced his executive orders and the SAVE Act, which requires voters to present passports or birth certificates to register, a policy critics have called a “modern-day poll tax.”
Max Flugrath, communications director for the voting rights group Fair Fight Action, warned that Trump allies continue to push forward despite judicial rejections of previous attempts to centralize control over elections. He noted that the Department of Justice is collecting voter roll data, the DHS is pressuring states to share files, and figures like Honey are framing misleading claims as “best practices.” Flugrath described this as “election disinformation rebranded as policy,” driven by the EIN, which he said is encouraging Trump to test the limits of executive power.
Honey is one of many EIN members with direct access to Trump. The group has also placed loyalists in key positions, such as Marcy McCarthy, who was appointed as CISA’s director of public affairs after promoting debunked claims about illegal voting in Georgia. EIN founder Cleta Mitchell, who was present during Trump’s 2021 phone call with Georgia officials, recently suggested that the president could use emergency powers to assert control over future elections.
Flugrath warned that such statements signal a coordinated strategy to undermine the independence of state-run elections. “It’s a federal strategy to control elections and rig our democracy,” he said. “Independent elections are the foundation of freedom. If Trump can control our elections, he can dismantle other checks on power. Protecting free, state-run elections is the firewall between democracy and authoritarianism.”
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