Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (8th District of Illinois)
WASHINGTON – Yesterday, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), senior member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, sent a letter to President Donald J. Trump expressing grave concern over reports that individuals working in coordination with the Administration are circulating a draft executive order to declare a national emergency and assert sweeping presidential authority over federal elections.
Congressman Krishnamoorthi made clear that any attempt to manufacture an “emergency” to seize control over elections would cross a fundamental constitutional red line.
In his letter, he warned that such a move “would represent an extraordinary and unlawful expansion of executive power” and underscored that “The President does not have a role in federal elections.”
“The Constitution is clear,” Krishnamoorthi wrote. “Article I, Section 4 explicitly assigns the authority to regulate federal elections to the states and to Congress.” He further emphasized, “The Constitution does not grant the executive branch any power to rewrite election laws, ban lawful voting methods, or override state-certified systems.”
According to public reporting, proponents of the draft order believe it could be used to mandate voter identification nationwide and ban mail-in ballots ahead of the midterm elections. Krishnamoorthi stressed that invoking emergency powers to prohibit mail-in ballots, restrict voting machines, or impose nationwide voter identification requirements “would be unprecedented.”
“A national emergency cannot be declared simply to circumvent constitutional limits or to accomplish policy objectives that have not been enacted through the legislative process,” he wrote.
The letter also underscores that there has been no credible finding that foreign interference altered the outcome of the 2020 election at the ballot box. The Intelligence Community assessed that it had “no indications that any foreign actor attempted to interfere in the 2020 US elections by altering any technical aspect of the voting process,” and courts across the country found no evidence of irregularities that could have changed the results.
Krishnamoorthi further noted that federal courts have already blocked significant portions of a prior executive order related to election administration — reinforcing the principle that election administration cannot be governed by unilateral executive mandate.
“Mail-in voting has long been a lawful and secure method relied upon by seniors, military servicemembers, and working families,” he wrote, warning that eliminating that option nationwide by executive decree “would be illegal and would undermine both the rule of law and public trust in our democratic institutions.”
Krishnamoorthi concluded by urging the President “to not proceed with any proposal that would aim to nationalize elections or attempt to assert emergency powers that our Constitution clearly does not provide.”
The letter is available here.