About a month after Election Day 2024, Donald Trump received a “Patriot of the Year” award from Fox News and attended a network gala that was apparently designed to celebrate the Republican and his victory. As part of his remarks, Trump vowed to pursue changes on elections policy, adding, “We’re going to do things that have been really needed for a long time.”
Trump didn’t go into a lot of detail at the time, though he did specifically talk about “proof of citizenship” as one of his priorities.
Keep that in mind when reading about the president’s latest executive order. NBC News reported:
President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a sweeping executive order attempting a major overhaul of American elections, requiring people to prove their citizenship when they register to vote. The order — which also includes an array of other changes, from mail-in ballot deadlines to election equipment — could risk disenfranchising tens of millions of Americans. Election law experts questioned whether Trump had the authority to make the changes, saying the order is all but certain to be met with legal challenges.
Last year, congressional Republicans tried to advance legislation called the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (or SAVE Act), that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote. The bill did not, however, pass the Senate or become law.
Months later, Trump apparently decided that he can just create the policy anyway through presidential fiat. It’s an approach rooted in a fundamentally ridiculous governing vision: When Congress fails to pass a bill, presidents can simply implement laws anyway, without legislative approval.








