President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday taking direct aim at mail-in voting across the country, directing federal agencies to crack down on the practice and threatening to withhold funding from states that refuse to fall in line.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick appeared alongside Trump at the signing, claiming the order would make mail-in ballots “safe, secure and accurate.” Critics immediately pushed back, arguing the move is an unconstitutional federal overreach into elections that are legally administered by individual states.
The order directs federal data resources and U.S. Postal Service verification measures to be applied to the mail-in voting process, giving the executive branch an unprecedented role in how states run their elections.
Mail-in voting has been used by tens of millions of Americans across both parties for decades and has repeatedly been found by courts and election officials to be secure. Trump and Republicans have long sought to cast doubt on the practice despite no evidence of widespread fraud.
Legal challenges are expected almost immediately, with voting rights groups and Democratic-led states likely to argue the order exceeds presidential authority and violates the constitutional framework that leaves election administration to the states.
BREAKING: Trump signs executive order targeting mail-in voting nationwide, threatening to defund states that refuse to comply
