Krishnamoorthi Announces Free Elections Act in Response to Trump’s Election Takeover Remarks to Reinforce Existing Constitutional and Legal Protections Legislation Reaffirms[...]

WASHINGTON - Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi today announced that he will soon be introducing the Free Elections Act in direct response to President Donald Trump's recent comments calling for Republicans to "take over" and "nationalize" American elections. The legislation will reinforce and clarify longstanding constitutional and statutory protections that already prohibit the use of federal power to interfere with U.S. elections-making unmistakably clear that elections belong to the people, not to any political party or president.

"President Trump's call for Republicans to 'take over' and 'nationalize' our elections is already unconstitutional and illegal," said Congressman Krishnamoorthi. "This is not a hypothetical threat. President Trump has already brutally misused federal law enforcement agencies like ICE and CBP as political weapons-inflicting real harm, destroying lives, and leaving Americans dead. As Congress negotiates DHS reforms and funding right now, the Free Elections Act removes any ambiguity and makes unmistakably clear that no president-Donald Trump or anyone else-can invoke emergency powers or deploy federal forces, including DHS, ICE, or CBP agents to interfere with elections or override the will of the voters."

The Free Elections Act will reaffirm and strengthen existing prohibitions against invoking emergency powers to interfere with elections, including through misuse of authorities under the Insurrection Act, the National Emergencies Act, and related federal statutes. It reinforces long-established bans on deploying federal forces or law enforcement, including DHS agents, at election sites and clarifies that emergency authorities may not be used to control, monitor, or influence the electoral process.