Padilla Leads Senate Democrats in Demanding White House Fire Election-Denial Czar Kurt Olsen

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and California's former Secretary of State, led ten Democratic colleagues in calling for election-denier Kurt Olsen's removal as Director of Election Security and Integrity at the White House. The lawmakers emphasized that Olsen has exceeded the legal limit of 130 days as a "special government employee" appointed by President Trump to "investigate" the 2020 election.

In a letter to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, White House Counsel David Warrington, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Presidential Personnel Dan Scavino, the Senators emphasized the danger of Olsen's ongoing efforts to manufacture baseless claims of voter fraud to support Trump's election interference efforts.

"On October 29, 2025, several U.S. Senators alerted senior White House officials to serious concerns regarding the appointment of Mr. Olsen to investigate conspiracy theories around the 2020 election," wrote the Senators. "These concerns have been borne out. Public court filings have confirmed that Mr. Olsen made debunked conspiracy theories the basis of the FBI's search warrant in the Administration's unprecedented raid on Fulton County, Georgia election offices, with the Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in attendance. Public reporting also shows that Mr. Olsen's investigation was behind the Administration's seizure of election equipment in Puerto Rico, and he remains unpersuaded that even his own biased investigation has found no evidence for these conspiracy theories."

Olsen was hired at the White House as a "special government employee" by Trump in October 2025, as part of a strategy of hiring 2020 election deniers and Trump loyalists to "investigate" baseless claims of election interference. His involvement in the unprecedented seizing of ballots and voting equipment has raised fears that he could help Trump illegally interfere in the midterm elections. Since his hiring, Olsen has also been granted rare access to American intelligence agencies - using his position to divert their resources from national security needs to debunk 2020 election conspiracies.

"President Trump is then using these theories to justify his ongoing baseless claims about the 2020 election and assert illegal and unconstitutional powers to 'take over the voting' in certain states in the upcoming election," said the Senators.

The Senators also highlighted reports that the Administration is attempting to find other agencies in which to place Olsen following this role - furthering Trump's attempts to fill his Administration with political allies and loyalists. The Senators emphasized the immediate need to remove Olsen from the White House and prevent him from any further involvement in future elections, given that Olsen has been sanctioned in federal court for false election claims and is rejecting the results of his own investigation when it fails to support his conspiracy theories.

In addition to Padilla, the letter was signed by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

As Ranking Member of the Senate Rules Committee with oversight over federal elections, Padilla has led the charge opposing Trump's unlawful attempts to influence the midterm elections, including through his anti-voter executive order (EO). In October of last year, Padilla led eight Democratic colleagues in a letter condemning the White House's alarming hiring Olsen as a "special government employee" to "investigate" the 2020 election. In the letter, Padilla and his colleagues condemned Trump's EO illegally directing the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to revise voting system standards and rescind voting machine certifications. Additionally, Padilla slammed the President's threat to issue another illegal and unconstitutional executive order to ban mail-in ballots.

In response to Trump's unlawful EO, Padilla introduced the Absentee and Mail Voter Protection Act, which would nullify Trump's EO and place restrictions on the administration's attempts to implement any unlawful voter restrictions. Padilla also took to the Senate floor four times as a leader in the Democratic opposition to the SAVE Act.

Full text of the letter is available here and below:

Dear Ms. Wiles, Mr. Warrington, and Mr. Scavino:

The public record is clear that Mr. Kurt Olsen's service as a special government employee (SGE), most recently as the Director of Election Security and Integrity at the White House, has exceeded the legal limits for such appointments and, therefore, should come to an end immediately.

Federal law, 18 U.S.C. § 202, limits the appointment of such SGE's to 130 days in any consecutive 365-day period. Public reports of Mr. Olsen's appointment date back to as early as October 18, 2025, over 200 days ago. Thus, it is past time to end this temporary appointment or provide a full explanation of how his continued service is legally justified, including Mr. Olsen's exact dates of service.

On October 29, 2025, several U.S. Senators alerted senior White House officials to serious concerns regarding the appointment of Mr. Olsen to investigate conspiracy theories around the 2020 election. These concerns have been borne out. Public court filings have confirmed that Mr. Olsen made debunked conspiracy theories the basis of the FBI's search warrant in the Administration's unprecedented raid on Fulton County, Georgia election offices, with the Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in attendance. Public reporting also shows that Mr. Olsen's investigation was behind the Administration's seizure of election equipment in Puerto Rico, and he remains unpersuaded that even his own biased investigation has found no evidence for these conspiracy theories.

Additional reports show that Mr. Olsen has been given unfettered access to American intelligence agencies and classified information. He is using this position to divert these agencies' resources away from their national security missions to 2020 election conspiracy theories. President Trump is then using these theories to justify his ongoing baseless claims about the 2020 election and assert illegal and unconstitutional powers to "take over the voting" in certain states in the upcoming election.

As noted in the October 29 letter, Mr. Olsen has been sanctioned by courts for making false statements in election cases, and he is continuing that track record during his White House service. Instead of accepting the results that failed to support his conspiracy theories, he is accusing a cybersecurity firm that the Trump Administration hired, which found no hacking of voting machines, of being the "deep state" and falsely claiming it is funded by George Soros. Additional reporting reveals that Mr. Olsen personally provided data to this investigation in non-standard formats with no chain of custody, raising serious concerns about whether his data is reliable and was obtained by legal means.

Further nonpublic reports indicate that the Administration is attempting to find other agencies to place Mr. Olsen within the Trump Administration, now that he has exceeded the legal limits to serve as an SGE. If he remains in government during the 2026 general election, there is a clear and foreseeable risk that he will seek to interfere in the free and fair administration of the 2026 general election. It would be a mistake for the Administration to allow this dangerous initiative to continue.

There is no reason to believe that Mr. Olsen's activities will find anything new or useful about the 2020 election, which has been reviewed more than any other election in history. However, these efforts perpetuate false narratives that serve as pretexts for attempts to interfere in upcoming elections. To avoid further destabilizing - and potentially illegal - activities, Mr. Olsen should be immediately removed from his SGE role and the Administration should refrain from appointing him to any other federal position with any involvement in past or future elections.

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