New York University law professor Ryan Goodman said Thursday on CNN that President Donald Trump “can’t legally” nationalize elections, warning that anyone involved might already have committed a serious crime.
Goodman made his case on “OutFront” after The Washington Post reported that a group of MAGA activists drafted an executive order to accuse China of interfering in the 2020 elections as a pretext for declaring a national emergency for the 2026 midterms.
“He can’t legally do it, so I don’t think this survives first contact with the courts,” Goodman said.
The lawyer continued, “If [Trump] passes this kind of executive order, I imagine within hours there will be people who have already developed their litigation strategy to counter it, because it’s being broadcast by him and his team, or at least by this group with The Washington Post.”
The Post warned that Trump would gain “extraordinary” new powers over the voting process if he declares a national emergency under the guise of protecting elections from outside interference, which Goodman said itself would be “election interference on steroids.”
“OutFront” host Erin Burnett noted that the draft order curiously doesn’t mention Russia or its efforts to interfere in the 2016 election that Trump went on to win, despite later reports from a bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee concluding that such efforts had taken place.
“Not saying that China would or wouldn’t do it, but I just am making the point here that bipartisan Congress acknowledged that Russia did interfere, and they’re not mentioning that,” she said. “So … the premise, right, is off to begin with.”
Goodman, a former special counsel at the Defense Department, appeared optimistic Thursday that this potential order wouldn’t stand up in court. He noted that the Trump administration has “tested this” before, only for the U.S. legal system to thwart him.
“So he passed an executive order, middle of last year,” said Goodman. “And in fact, that order was then contested in court and so far has lost. He is now appealing it, but it’s losing on the same idea that there’s no presidential control over state and local elections.”
That particular order would require proof of U.S. citizenship to vote, bar states from counting mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day and direct the Justice Department to prosecute what the Trump administration considers election crimes.
Trump openly stated earlier this month that “Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.” He doubled down during his State of the Union address Tuesday, claiming Democrats “want to cheat” in upcoming elections and warning that “we’re going to stop it.”
Goodman also pointed to a particular roadblock the Trump administration faces in seizing control of U.S. elections.
“It’s madcap in a certain sense of how extraordinary the idea is,” he told Burnett. “And that’s why it’s on steroids in a certain sense. And I think people that are involved in this machination might need to worry about their own criminal exposure, just to put it out there.”
Goodman continued, “There is a criminal statute that says that people should not engage in a conspiracy to deprive people of their rights. That’s 18 U.S.C. § 241. And it specifically says a conspiracy with respect to the right to exercise one’s vote. That’s what it’s about.”