A GOP request pushes the limits on federal interference in elections

A GOP request pushes the limits on federal interference in elections
There’s little precedent or legal authority for what Michigan lawmakers are seeking from the Justice Department.

By Carrie Levine | November 24, 2025, 5:00am EST


(Votebeat) Earlier this month, a group of Republican state lawmakers in Michigan sent a letter asking the U.S. Justice Department to “deploy official election monitors and provide comprehensive oversight for Michigan’s 2026 primary and general elections.”

Besides election monitors, which the Justice Department for years has deployed around the country to observe elections, the letter isn’t clear on what the Republican lawmakers mean by “comprehensive oversight,” or exactly what legal authority they believe would allow such an intervention. In interviews with Votebeat Michigan reporter Hayley Harding, two of the letter’s signatories did not go into specifics about what they were envisioning; you can read our full report on the letter here.

President Donald Trump and his allies have repeatedly pushed for more federal oversight of elections. In March, he issued a sweeping executive order that would overhaul the way elections are administered in many states, though federal courts have since blocked many of its provisions on the grounds that the Constitution doesn’t grant him such authority. His administration is appealing at least some of those decisions.

In August, Trump asserted in a social media post that “the States are merely an ‘agent’ for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes” and “must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them, FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY, to do.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt earlier this month said the administration is working on a second executive order on elections. Some conservative allies have suggested Trump could assert emergency powers; many experts have said he cannot. .......................(more)

https://www.votebeat.org/2025/11/24/michigan-republican-lawmakers-election-oversight-insurrection-act/