Trump’s slow-motion dismantling of elections

There is a growing sense among many pro-democracy Americans and the public at large that Trumpism and the MAGA are not forever. Several prominent voices have been channeling Winston Churchill, who marked the British victory at El Alamein in World War II by proclaiming: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

In reality, Trump’s MAGA coalition is continuing to attack and wear down American democracy and society. His shock-and-awe campaign may have lost its thunderous momentum, but the offensive never stopped.

Last Thursday, the president removed the remaining members of the bipartisan federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC). The two Democrats were fired. The third member, a Republican, resigned. This little-known commission was formed after the chaos of the contested 2000 presidential race between George W. Bush and Al Gore to help states improve their elections by administering grants, testing voting systems and maintaining the national voter registration form. The EAC does not count votes or monitor elections. Trump’s move against the EAC likely will not impact the November midterms.

The administration justified this unprecedented move by citing the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Trump v. Slaughter, which handed the president new power to fire the heads of “independent agencies” without cause.

So why now? The EAC refused to support Trump’s push to include a citizenship question on voter registration forms. 

This is part of a much larger campaign to manipulate and take control of the country’s elections in the name of security and stopping fraud to guarantee wins for Trump and his MAGA Republicans in the November midterms, the 2028 presidential contest and beyond. 

Michael Waldman, president and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice, called the move “deeply concerning in light of [Trump’s] relentless efforts to try to interfere in elections.” Congress built the EAC to be bipartisan by design, Waldman said, and “these removals leave the agency without leadership and unable to carry out its major responsibilities.” Donald K. Sherman, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) put it more bluntly: This is “creeping authoritarianism.”

Trump still believes his own Big Lie: Any election he or his MAGA Republicans lose is, by definition, automatically fraudulent or otherwise illegitimate.  

On March 31, Trump signed an executive order that would change America’s elections by restricting mail-in voting and requiring proof of citizenship. In a series of decisions last month, federal district judges in Boston have ruled against these executive orders, for now.  

Meanwhile, Trump’s Department of Justice is suing states for voter data and access to voter rolls. The president is also demanding that congressional Republicans pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote.

In a story that has gotten far too little attention, Trump has also placed prominent 2020 election deniers in key positions throughout the country’s election infrastructure, systematically dismantling America’s defenses against interference by foreign and other malign actors in the country’s elections. In February 2025, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, ceased its election security activities pending a review. This was accompanied by staff cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency, which included the agency’s election security advisers

The Brennan Center’s new report the “Threat of Foreign Influence on U.S. Elections Remain as Federal Defenses Recede” summarizes this state of vulnerability as: “For the first time since the designation of election infrastructure as critical infrastructure, the federal government’s support is notably absent this cycle, representing a new challenge for securing elections from foreign threats.”

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Trump and his agents have also repeatedly threatened to deploy the military, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and other law enforcement to prevent so-called voter fraud by “illegal aliens” in urban areas — euphemism and code for Black and brown people who support Democrats. Were this to happen, it would constitute an illegal act of voter intimidation and voter nullification.

In total, Trump’s moves against the EAC and the larger campaign against multiracial pluralistic democracy are pushing the country ever farther towards a state of competitive authoritarianism where elections take place but the outcome is essentially pre-determined in favor of the ruling party.

There is an old military axiom: The enemy gets a vote too. Trump and MAGA and the broader right-wing are still early in their campaign and they will not stop. In terms of practical politics, their plans to influence and potentially manipulate the midterms could shift districts — such as Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s in Ohio, Rep. Don Davis’ in North Carolina and Rep. Cleo Fields in Louisiana — from Democratic to Republican in close races.

The good news is that more Americans are paying attention. A recent poll from Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) shows that a majority of Americans correctly identify Trump as being an aspiring dictator and an existential threat to the country’s democracy. But awareness of the crisis is not the same as having a plan to defend American democracy and society.

The wins so far — in the courts, at the ballot box, in the everyday acts of civil resistance and “good trouble” that have slowed down the administration — are real, and they matter. But they are not the same thing as winning a permanent victory. The struggle is far from over. This struggle for democracy will be measured in many years and decades. It will be a test of willpower and resources.

On Monday, almost on cue, Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that he will be making a speech to the nation on Thursday night. MS NOW reported that Trump will claim that newly declassified “evidence” shows that a foreign power interfered against him in the 2020 election.

Pro-democracy Americans must not let their guard down and be too tempted by good news and unearned optimism.