Trump goes scorched earth on Democrats over voting bill, then promises an executive order that could ignite a constitutional crisis

President Trump said he will issue an executive order requiring voters to show proof of citizenship if the Senate doesn’t quickly pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, also known as the SAVE Act. This move would bypass the normal legislative process and could lead to a major constitutional fight.

According to The Hill, the president made his position clear in two posts on Truth Social. He promised, “There will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!” He also said the country wants citizenship requirements and an end to mail-in ballots, though he noted there should be exceptions for military members, disability, illness, or travel.

Thirty minutes later, he confirmed the executive action would happen if Congress doesn’t act. He argued there are “Legal reasons why this SCAM is not permitted” and promised to present those reasons soon in an executive order.

The Senate faces deep divisions over strict voting requirements

The SAVE Act passed the House earlier this week in a close 218-213 vote, but it faces serious problems in the Senate. The new version of the bill has strict rules for mail-in voting. It requires voters using mail-in ballots to include a photocopy of a state-issued ID or an affidavit swearing they cannot get a valid ID, along with the last four digits of their Social Security number.

The Senate is sharply divided on this bill. Only one Democrat, Senator John Fetterman, has shown support for it. Meanwhile, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski from Alaska said she opposes the legislation completely. The president has been taking aggressive stances on various policy issues, including when Trump threatened to block infrastructure projects after controversial meetings.

Senator Murkowski warned that adding new federal requirements now is a bad idea because Election Day is coming soon. She said forcing states to change their preparation plans would hurt election integrity. “Imposing new federal requirements now, when states are deep into their preparations, would negatively impact election integrity by forcing election officials to scramble to adhere to new policies likely without the necessary resources,” she said in a statement on X.

President Trump called Democrats “horrible, disingenuous CHEATERS” and demanded Republicans make this issue their top priority for the midterms. He claimed that 85% of Democrat voters agree that Voter ID is necessary. “It is a CAN’T MISS FOR RE-ELECTION IN THE MIDTERMS, AND BEYOND!” he wrote. 

Trump continues to receive support from unexpected sources, including when an OpenAI cofounder donated millions to Trump over AI policy concerns. Some conservatives are pushing the Senate to use the “talking filibuster,” which could tie up the Senate floor for weeks.

However, Senate Majority Leader John Thune is worried that a long debate on voting reform would stop the GOP from working on other important issues like housing reform, a highway bill, market structure reform, and the farm bill. Representative Keith Self said the president needs to use “every possible weapon he has to this fight to get the Senate to move, because the Senate will not move without incredible, crushing pressure.”