In a post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump announced that he would require every American to show identification before voting in the midterms. The president even said he would circumvent Congress if he had to.
Trump said he would “shortly” sign an executive order explaining the “legal reasons” for a voter ID law.
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“This was not what our Founders desired,” Trump wrote in his post. “I have searched the depths of Legal Arguments not yet articulated or vetted on this subject, and will be presenting an irrefutable one in the very near future.”
Currently, lawmakers are debating the SAVE Act, which would require voters to show an ID to vote in national elections. The bill passed the House of Representatives but is unlikely to pass the Senate. Republicans hold a small majority and would need Democrats to cross the aisle to overcome the Senate’s 60-vote cloture rule. Nearly all Democrats have said they would not support it.
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., expressed support for the measure, disputing other Democrats when they likened it to Jim Crow laws.
Trump said that Democrats don’t want to support it because they “cheat” during elections. The president has claimed his opponents have or will cheat in the election. Even during the 2016 GOP primaries, Trump alleged his opponents “stole” the election. He singled out Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, after Cruz won the Iowa Caucus.
Despite Trump saying he plans to go over Congress to get his voter ID requirement implemented, he can’t. An executive order cannot create new voting requirements for the public, nor can it override state election laws.
However, he can use his order to pressure Congress to advocate harder for voter-ID laws. Earlier on Friday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem campaigned for the SAVE Act during a press conference in Arizona.
