Trump’s threats to U.S. elections loom large at House Dems policy retreat

House Democrats this week laid out their plans to counter President Donald Trump‘s rhetoric about “nationalizing” this year’s elections ahead of the 2026 midterms.

The lawmakers convened at their annual policy retreat, where they set their agenda for the year and hone campaign messaging. They met in northern Virginia this week following Trump’s escalating calls for voter-ID requirements at the polls and his desire to require presenting documents to register to vote, both changes that would likely disenfranchise voters across the U.S. A pending Supreme Court decision on the Voting Rights Act also looms large, and Trump has said he is considering ways of imposing the changes he wants even if Congress does not pass legislation.

“This is a five alarm fire,” Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., said at a Congressional Black Caucus press conference at the retreat’s close on Friday. “We are going to fight back, and we are going to use every tool in the toolkit.”

Sewell, who is also a member of the House Administration Committee that has jurisdiction over federal elections, said options include litigating, legislating and mobilizing. But with a minority in both chambers, Democrats are somewhat limited in the run-up to the pivotal 2026 midterm elections that will decide control of the House.

“The vast majority of Americans support President Trump’s commonsense election integrity agenda, Democrat politicians should too,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in an emailed statement.

Trump in recent months has again become laser-focused on elections, rehashing some of his old, unfounded claims about the 2020 presidential contest being “rigged” and noncitizens voting. It is illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections and instances are rare. The FBI in January seized ballots in Fulton County, Ga., a precinct that Trump lost to Joe Biden.

The president has recently called to “nationalize” elections. He has pushed for the Senate to pass a controversial bill, dubbed the SAVE America Act, that would require proof of citizenship to register and photo identification to cast a ballot.

“President Trump is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of elections, and that includes totally accurate and up-to-date voter rolls free of errors and unlawfully registered non-citizen voters,” Jackson said in her statement. “[The] President has also urged Congress to pass the SAVE Act and other legislative proposals that would establish a uniform standard of photo ID for voting, prohibit no-excuse mail-in voting, and end the practice of ballot harvesting to ensure the safety and security of our elections.”

Trump threatened earlier this month to unilaterally impose voter ID restrictions ahead of November’s elections. MS NOW reported Thursday that he…