Dems use GOP voting bill hearing to go after Trump, slam Fulton County raid
Democrats accuse the GOP of trying to "change the rules" before the midterm.
House Democrats and Republicans sparred Tuesday over the sweeping GOP voting bills Congress is set to consider in the coming weeks, amid President Donald Trump's renewed focus on the results of the 2020 election, and the upcoming midterms.
"Elections should end on Election Day. You need a photo ID to cast a ballot. You need to be a citizen to vote. You need a ... paper trail, and you shouldn't mail ballots to people who don't request them," Republican Rep. Bryan Steil said.
The House Administration Committee debated Republicans' proposals under the Make Elections Great Again Act, which would place new restrictions on the use and processing of mail-in ballots, require voters to provide photo ID in order to vote, and require states to review their voter rolls at least once a month.
Democratic Rep. Joe Morelle, the top Democrat on the panel, accused Republicans of trying to "change the rules of the game" before the high-stakes midterm elections in which Republicans are widely expected to lose seats. Historically, the party in power in the White House tends to lose congressional seats in the midterm elections.
"All these bills have the same outcome: They are the Trump elections takeover bills. We know this because the president has said so himself," Morelle said, referring to Trump's previous comments calling on Republicans to "nationalize" elections, and that the federal government should "get involved" in managing elections.
The Constitution gives states the authority to run and administer federal elections, subject to laws passed by Congress.
"I ask the American people this: Do you want Donald Trump running your elections. Do you want Pam Bondi or Kristi Noem running your elections? I want every American to know this is not President Trump's election to take over. It's yours."
Like the SAVE Act, the Make Elections Great Again Act would require voters to provide photo ID to vote, both in person and for mail-in voting, and require proof of U.S. citizenship, which is currently only required in a handful of states. In every state, new voters are required to attest that they are U.S. citizens when registering to vote. Non-citizen voting is already illegal and is vanishingly rare, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
The bill would also require states to more frequently review their voter rolls.
The Make Elections Great Again Act would also place new restrictions on the use and processing of mail-in ballots and ban universal mail-in voting and rank-choice voting for federal elections.
The Republican witnesses, including Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray and Ann Bollin, a Michigan Republican and former chair of the Michigan House Elections and Ethics Committee, argued that voters do not trust the results of elections, and that the GOP measures would help restore confidence.
"I'm really puzzled by the suggestion that there's not a lot of fraud. Why would we wait for fraud to occur to protect [against] it?" Bollin said, responding to Democrats.
Kari Lake, a Trump political appointee who questioned the election results in Arizona and refused to concede her 2024 Senate and 2022 gubernatorial losses, was seated behind the witnesses.
"The rate of voter fraud is almost nonexistent compared to ballots cast," Democratic Rep. Terri Sewell argued in the hearing, claiming that Republicans' proposals are "meant to appease Trump."
Democratic Rep. Norma Torres mentioned the controversial Jan. 28 FBI search of a Georgia election office where 2020 ballots were seized. Trump recently posted a series of discredited conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, after FBI agents seized the ballots from the Fulton County, Georgia, facility.
"What are we talking about here? The FBI just raided a local election office with the Director of National Intelligence tagging along like an obedient dog, allegedly in pursuit of a fever drenched conspiracy theory about the 2020 elections that no sane person believes," Torres said.
Republicans accused Democrats of hypocrisy for their criticism of proposals to set national election standards, pointing to the H.R. 1 proposal the party attempted to pass during the Biden administration.
They also pointed to public polling that indicated that a majority of Democrats and Republicans supported photo ID requirements to vote.
Democratic Rep. Julie Johnson likened the new proposals for voting to a "poll tax."
"What does this mean if your married name does not match your birth certificate? Then you have to sign an affidavit?" she said. "Are we going to require people to pay $150 for a passport now in order to vote?"
The bill needs to be voted out of committee before a full House vote. But both chambers are already fighting over the SAVE Act, another GOP elections bill endorsed by Trump and House GOP leaders.
On Tuesday, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski came out against the GOP voting bill, which Senate Democrats have threatened to block from passing the upper chamber and its 60-vote threshold for approval.
"When Democrats attempted to advance sweeping election reform legislation in 2021, Republicans were unanimous in opposition because it would have federalized elections, something we have long opposed. Now, I'm seeing proposals such as the SAVE Act and MEGA that would effectively do just that. Once again, I do not support these efforts," Murkowski said in a statement.
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