President Trump is threatening the independence of elections and the American system of democracy as we know it. As part of his wide-ranging efforts to suppress democratic processes and eliminate threats to his power, he has targeted elections with misinformation and interference. As I wrote about over the summer, he has issued Executive Orders instructing the independent Election Assistance Commission to add a proof of citizenship requirement to federal voter registration forms (something he does not have the power to do, and a move that was blocked by the federal courts). He has also threatened to curb states’ ability to offer mail-in voting—another power that he simply does not have under the Constitution. His Department of Justice has all but abandoned protecting voting rights in favor of hunting down debunked allegations of voter fraud.
Among the Trump administration’s serious abuses of power: the Department of Justice, staffed by former personal lawyers for the President, is now criminally prosecuting the President’s political rivals. It started several weeks ago with New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has been indicted on charges of bank fraud and making false statements, and former FBI director James Comey, who has been indicted on charges of perjury. Former Trump national security adviser John Bolton has also been indicted by a grand jury for eight counts of transmission of national defense information and ten counts of retention of national defense information. There are indications that Senator Adam Schiff is under investigation for mortgage fraud. In April, President Trump directed the Attorney General to investigate two former Trump administration officials who refused to say the 2020 election was stolen—former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Chris Krebs and former Department of Homeland Security official Miles Taylor.
But the list won’t end there. Recently, President Trump claimed that the special counsel who investigated the president’s role in the January 6th insurrection attempt, Jack Smith, should be criminally prosecuted. Now, it looks like the White House may be setting the stage to roll out another attack on the electoral system, one laid out in Project 2025: criminally prosecuting election officials.
Loyalty over reality
President Trump’s obsession with exacting political and criminal retribution on his opponents is just a part of his larger war on science and truth. He has purged the executive branch of experts and filled it with loyalists. He has ignored science and scientists in favor of propagating conspiracy theories. To what end? He attacks science because the hard facts of science undermine his case for the actions he’s taking. And if he is proven wrong, he could lose the power he so desperately wants to keep. And, since the biggest threat to his ability to hold power is the democratic process, election results, and election science are coming under attack.
It isn’t news that the President and his supporters have continued to spread the lie that the 2020 election was “stolen.” Just last month, Heather Honey, the Department of Homeland Security’s top official on election integrity, used a call with state election officials to discuss a report that baselessly claims voting machines were rigged to favor Democrats in the 2020 election. This same official has also suggested that President Trump should and could declare a national emergency and institute new rules for state and local governments if an “actual investigation” of the 2020 election reveals fraud.
She, and the President, may get their way. A former Trump campaign lawyer, Kurt Olsen, who was involved in the campaign’s so-called “stop the steal” effort to overturn 2020 results, has been appointed to investigate allegations of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Olsen, a “special government employee”, began his probe by asking intelligence agencies for information they have about the election. Importantly, Olsen was primed to question the 2024 presidential election results ahead of Trump’s victory and encouraged Trump to make “legal demands before Election Day related to the preservation of data from voting machines…” in several battleground states.
Criminally targeting election officials comes right out of Project 2025. In November 2024, I wrote about how Project 2025 would endanger our elections. Unfortunately, many of the tactics I highlighted have come to pass. Not only did Project 2025 propose cutting funding to CISA—something that the Trump administration has also done—it also proposed pursuing criminal charges against election officials. Project 2025 also proposed that any state or local government that received funds from the Department of Homeland Security should be required to allow federal government access to their Department of Motor Vehicles and voter roll data—data that the DOJ has demanded from at least 39 states. The administration has also rolled back efforts to work with states to keep elections secure.
The DOJ is also deploying election monitors to several counties in California and New Jersey. While this isn’t historically abnormal, monitoring has previously focused on protecting voter’s rights; the purpose of this monitoring appears to also focus on “transparency” and “ballot security.” In fact, the DOJ monitoring of Passaic County, New Jersey, in the November 2025 elections is a direct result of a request by county Republicans. The New Jersey Republican State Committee requested monitoring of mail ballot counting, arguing that the DOJ’s presence was essential to ensuring accurate counting. The county has been solidly blue in recent elections but voted for President Trump in 2024 and will likely be pivotal to deciding the outcome of the upcoming gubernatorial race. There is, of course, no evidence of mass mail voter fraud, and there are already safeguards in place that ensure accuracy and security.
The tactic of investigating baseless claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election isn’t just about Trump’s 2020 loss and targeting his opponents. It is also about casting doubt on future elections. After the 2024 election, I wrote that “[e]lection denialism isn’t gone–just dormant until it becomes politically expedient.” Historically, the president’s party fares poorly in midterm elections. Recent approval ratings show that 54% of respondents disapprove of the job he is doing. The Republican-controlled Congress sits at 79% disapproval. If Republicans lose big in the midterms, President Trump and his supporters are likely to revive claims of election fraud. But it is Trump and his allies who are already messing with electoral maps, spreading mis- and disinformation, and putting the National Guard on the ground in Democratic-leaning cities.
Confronting the challenge
The Trump administration is ticking boxes in the Authoritarian Playbook. Spread disinformation—check and check. Politicize independent institutions—check and check. Quash criticism and dissent—check and check. Scapegoat vulnerable populations—check and check.
The good news is that many are fighting back. In October, about 2,700 No Kings peaceful rallies took place across the country, attracting some 7 million people. It was the largest single day demonstration in US history. Many here at UCS attended protests to especially respond to the administration’s legion of attacks on the nation’s scientific infrastructure.
In the days ahead of the day of protest, President Trump’s supporters predicted violence. After the day of protest, members of his party criticized the protest’s message and he argued that protestors were “not representative of this country.” However, polling data suggests that Americans do not share those sentiments. A recent poll found that 45% of respondents strongly agreed that President Trump was a dangerous dictator. A CNN poll found that 56% of respondents thought President Trump had gone too far in “using the power of the presidency and the executive branch.” Similar polls done by the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Pew Research Center also find that between 54% to 69% of respondents think President Trump has exercised executive powers more than other presidents or has gone “too far” in his use of presidential power.
You are not alone. You can make your voice heard. You can speak out in support of those in office who are fighting against the President’s harmful actions. Vote in upcoming local and state elections. Vote in the 2026 midterm election. You can also attend local town halls and use UCS’ Town Hall Toolkit to show your support for science and scientists and help hold your elected officials accountable. Be prepared to identify and debunk mis- and disinformation in your own life. UCS has resources on the difference between mis- and disinformation, how disinformation works and what you can do about disinformation.
Finally, you can continue to support UCS in our mission to stand up for science and the scientists who keep us safe. If you aren’t already, join the UCS Science Network to use your expertise to fight for science and evidence-based decisions to protect our health, safety, and environment.