How America Chose Not to Hold the Powerful to Account Our national project of elite impunity

After the arrests of powerful men across the world, you might be asking why the US has so much trouble holding its leaders accountable for lawbreaking. Since Nixon, all three branches of government have worked hard to ensure they can break the law with impunity www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Trump moves to rewrite election rules unilaterally The president has directed his White House counsel to explore a voter ID executive order, even as his own lawyers warn it would likely be stricken down — the latest test of his executive authority ove...

Note that even Trump's lawyers reportedly don't believe they can persuade courts he has legal authority to issue executive orders on voting. That's because he clearly does not. www.ms.now/news/trump-m...

But that doesn't mean you should sit back and wait for the courts to save our elections. It is important to call out every abuse and incursion as soon as it happens. No one should tolerate or cooperate with unlawful efforts by this administration to meddle in elections.

Trump, seeking executive power over elections, is urged to declare emergency Activists who say they are in coordination with the White House are circulating a draft executive order that would unlock extraordinary presidential power over voting.

Do not fall for this bunk that Trump can use emergency powers to issue an executive order to control elections. The law is clear: The president has no legal authority over elections. He has no emergency powers relating to elections. If he tries this, it will be blocked in court like his other EO.

Opinion: I support voter ID but oppose the SAVE America Act Protecting election integrity should not come at the cost of access, especially in rural and tribal communities.

Important oped by Sen. Lisa Murkowski on why she opposes the SAVE Act: www.adn.com/opinions/202...

The Justice Department’s Security Measures for Collecting Voter Rolls Are Inadequate Federal and state law requires that sensitive voter registration information be kept secure.

There is so much wrong with DOJ's campaign to collect state voter rolls from across the country. Here's yet another thing: it likely violates a key federal law--FISMA--governing the information security measures required for sensitive data. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

“The cheating is rampant in our elections. It’s rampant. … They want to cheat. They have cheated. And their policy is so bad that the only way they can get elected is to cheat and we’re going to stop ...

FALSE: “The cheating is rampant in our elections. It’s rampant. … They want to cheat. They have cheated. And their policy is so bad that the only way they can get elected is to cheat and we’re going to stop it.” www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02...

Louisiana’s Chief Election Official Confirms Lack of Widespread Noncitizen Voting An investigation of decades of state voting records found that voting by non-U.S. citizens is extremely rare.

Contrary to what POTUS says, the evidence is clear that only citizens vote in our elections, with vanishingly rare exceptions. There are multiple layers of safeguards to protect against fraudulent voting—and they work. This has been proved again and again.
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

And it would make married women who have changed their names go through extra hurdles just to register to vote.

It would functionally eliminate voter registration by mail and online registration. It would make everyone go in person to register to vote.

Here are other bad things the SAVE Act would do: It would require states to turn over their sensitive voter information to DHS.

Americans do not support the show-me-your-papers requirements at the core of the SAVE Act. Last year, so many Americans nationwide spoke out against the SAVE Act that they stopped the bill in its tracks.

You cannot use a driver’s license to register to vote under the SAVE Act in most cases. Nor can you use any photo ID issued by the federal, state or a tribal government. #SOTU

Millions of Americans Don’t Have Documents Proving Their Citizenship Readily Available Requiring Americans to prove their citizenship to register to vote would exclude millions of citizens from the political process.

Half of Americans don’t have a passport. More than 21 million Americans do not have any citizenship papers readily available. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

New SAVE Act Bills Would Still Block Millions of Americans From Voting The “show your papers” requirement is an attack on the freedom to vote.

At the core of the SAVE Act is a requirement that Americans show a passport or birth certificate in person every time they register to vote. #SOTU www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

The SAVE Act could block millions of Americans from voting. It is not common sense. If passed, it would be the first time in history Congress passed a vote suppression law. #SOTU

Important victory for all Americans--an order requiring DOJ to turn over records about their dangerous efforts to collect and stockpile sensitive voter data from states voter files across the country. Thank you, @citizensforethics.org!

Agree wholeheartedly. This should make it very hard for the president to claim "emergency powers," "foreign affairs," or broad vague delegations of authority as a basis for trying to meddle in elections.

Important takeaway from SCOTUS's tariffs decision: The president cannot get away with asserting "emergency powers" or "foreign affairs" as a basis for claiming authority over things the Constitution delegates to Congress or the states. That includes elections.

6. Kristi Noem is trying to give herself a promotion through a distorted interpretation of the law. DHS has a duty to help maintain critical infrastructure, but no authority to run it. When it comes to elections, it is the states and Congress that have that authority.

5. Congress has given DHS no such authority with respect to elections. None. States still run our elections, regardless of what Noem says.

4. When a sector is designated critical infrastructure, DHS provides risk assessments, advice, and security support—but only on a voluntary basis. Unless Congress specifically gives DHS the authority to regulate in a particular area, no one is required to accept its advice or do what it says.

3. Contrary to what Noem said, there is no law that “delegates” power over elections to DHS. None. There are laws that give DHS duties with respect to America’s “critical infrastructure,” but those laws do not put DHS in charge of that infrastructure, and especially not elections.

2. In support of her claimed authority over elections, Noem cited DHS’s mission “to defend the homeland” and “to maintain critical infrastructure.” Our elections are indeed critical to our homeland and our national infrastructure. But that does not put Kristi Noem in charge of them.

1. In an unusual press briefing today in AZ, Sec. Kristi Noem made the extraordinary (but vaguely delivered) claim that as head of DHS, she has authorities over elections, including to make sure that “the right people are voting and electing the right leaders to lead this country.” That is false.

New SAVE Act Bills Would Still Block Millions of Americans From Voting The “show your papers” requirement is an attack on the freedom to vote.

Reminder that the SAVE Act is in fact a vote suppression bill. It requires everyone to show a passport or birth certificate to register to vote--something that could block 21 million eligible Americans. Don't listen to the administration's spin. Get the facts: www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

Opinion | Trump Can’t Cancel Elections. He Could Undermine Them.

In today’s @nytopinion.nytimes.com, @seanmorales-doyle.bsky.social explains how dozens of actions by the Trump administration, together, show that an attempted “takeover” of elections is underway. But we can fight back, he writes.

Opinion | Trump Can’t Cancel Elections. He Could Undermine Them.

Trump Can’t Cancel Elections. He Could Undermine Them. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/o...

In addition to being legally very weak (see @beckerdavidj.bsky.social below), the Fulton County affidavit mainly recycles conspiracy theories that have been long debunked and disproved. It is filled with moldy leftovers.

OPINION TODAY featured podcast —
What does it mean when the president urges Republicans to "nationalize the voting"? @wendyweiser.bsky.social of @brennancenter.org examines the administration’s actions ahead of the midterm elections.
(Consider This from NPR)
opiniontoday.substack.com/i/187372911/...