February 3, 2026 / 6:18 PM EST / CBS News
Washington — President Trump suggested Monday that Republicans should “nationalize” voting, escalating his and his administration’s push to assert federal involvement in elections ahead of the 2026 midterms.
On a podcast with former FBI deputy director Dan Bongino, Trump repeated claims — without evidence — that people in the U.S. illegally are voting in federal elections and urged Republicans to “take over the voting” in at least 15 states. “The Republicans should say, ‘we want to take over,'” he said. “The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting. And then we have states that are so crooked, and they’re counting votes.”
A day later at an Oval Office event, flanked by lawmakers and Cabinet members, Trump said: “I want to see elections be honest, and if a state can’t run an election, I think the people behind me should do something about it.”
Constitution gives states — not the president — the power to run elections
The Constitution’s Elections Clause gives states authority to set rules for federal elections and to administer them through state and local offices, though Congress can enact certain election regulations. As a result, the president has virtually no role in overseeing elections, said David Becker, a CBS News election law contributor and executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research.
“The Elections Clause of the Constitution couldn’t be any more clear,” Becker said on CBS News’ “The Takeout with Major Garrett.” “It’s actually one of the areas the Founders carved out, specifically to exclude the executive from any power over elections.”
Asked about those constitutional limits, Trump said states “can administer the election, but they have to do it honestly,” calling states “agents of the federal government” and arguing federal authorities should be more involved. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CBS News the president “believes in the United States Constitution,” while also saying he believes there has been “a lot of fraud and irregularities.”
Trump moves to expand control over elections
Trump has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that the 2020 election was rife with fraud and has accused Democrats of allowing undocumented immigrants to vote. Dozens of lawsuits from his campaign and allies seeking to overturn the 2020 results were dismissed; former Attorney General Bill Barr said the Justice Department did not uncover evidence of widespread fraud.
Despite that, the administration has taken actions aimed at expanding federal influence over voting. Trump signed an executive order last year aimed at overhauling parts of election administration, including a requirement for documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote. It is a crime for noncitizens to vote in federal elections, and violators face penalties, but several provisions of the order — including proof-of-citizenship requirements — have been blocked by federal judges after legal challenges.
The Justice Department has demanded complete voter registration lists from nearly every state and Washington, D.C., according to the Brennan Center for Justice, and it has sued about two dozen states and D.C. for refusing to hand over records that include addresses, birth dates and partial Social Security numbers.
Trump has also encouraged Republican-controlled state legislatures to redraw congressional maps to help the party retain a House majority. Texas enacted maps aimed at gaining additional Republican seats, while California approved plans to favor Democrats in several districts. Other states have also moved to recraft districts.
Last week, the FBI executed a search warrant at a Fulton County, Georgia, elections office and seized ballots from the 2020 presidential election — an action tied to probes of election-related issues. Trump has repeatedly asserted, without evidence, that the 2020 result in Georgia was “rigged” against him.
He told Bongino “you’re going to see some interesting things come in” regarding Georgia and has continued to claim he won in 2020. The FBI search and the presence of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard at the scene drew concern from Democrats on Capitol Hill. Gabbard said Trump requested she be at the search, acknowledged arranging a phone call between FBI agents in Atlanta and the president, and said Trump wanted to “thank the agents personally for their work.” She said he did not issue directives or ask questions during the call.
Legislative proposals and administration lines
Trump has backed the SAVE Act, supported by congressional Republicans, which would require in-person proof of citizenship for voter registration. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the president’s comments about taking over elections referred to legislation like the SAVE Act and other proposals to establish a uniform photo ID standard, prohibit no-excuse mail-in voting, and ban ballot harvesting.
Congressional Republicans push back on nationalizing elections
Republican leaders in Congress pushed back on the idea of federalizing elections. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he supports photo ID requirements but does not favor centralizing election administration. “I’m a big believer in decentralized and distributing power, and I think it’s harder to hack 50 election systems than it is to hack one,” he said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson defended the state-run system and portrayed Trump’s remarks as frustration over election integrity in some Democratic-led states. “It’s a system that works well, so long as the states make it a priority to ensure the integrity of our elections,” Johnson said. “We have real concerns about some of the blue states, frankly, that have not been doing that well.”
Patrick Maguire and Kaia Hubbard contributed to this report.