President Donald Trump faced criticism from a major swing-state governor and potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, who dismissed the idea of eliminating mail-in voting through executive action.
“Donald Trump can sign whatever the hell executive orders he wants to sign and make a show out of whatever he wants, but he can’t change the Constitution with an executive order,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said at a press conference in Harrisburg.
“The Constitution gives the authority to set our election rules to the states.”
“Let me remind you that it was just about five years ago that a bipartisan majority in the House and in the Senate passed mail-in voting.
“And, [since] that time, millions of people have voted by mail,” Shapiro added, referring to Act 77 of 2019, which several Republicans supported but later criticized Democrats and left-leaning judges for allegedly altering.
Shapiro emphasized that Pennsylvania has conducted “free and fair” elections, noting that Trump has both won and lost statewide contests during his political career.
“For him to try and put more misinformation out there, to stoke more division and fear among people who want to exercise their constitutional right to pick the leaders in their communities and in their commonwealth — that is just cynical and wrong.”
He added that any executive order from Trump would have “no bearing” on Pennsylvania elections and pledged support for county election officials in all 67 counties in facilitating mail-in voting.
Former Pennsylvania House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, criticized the bipartisan mail-in voting law Shapiro referenced, arguing that Democrats and the state Supreme Court had “diluted” it from its original intent.
“Only one party [worked to] eliminate security safeguards and delay the timelines for elections,” Cutler wrote in an LNP column. He accused the Democrat-controlled high court of “unconstitutionally act[ing] to change the law for receiving and counting ballots, allowing for drop boxes, and stripping the security provisions for mail-in ballots.”
On Monday, Trump signaled potential changes to the election system, promising to “lead a movement to get rid of mail-in ballots.”
He wrote on Truth Social that he would sign an executive order to “help bring honesty to the 2026 midterm elections,” asserting that states are “merely agent[s]” for the federal government.
When asked for comment, the White House referred to remarks made by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt during Thursday’s briefing:
“The White House continues to work on this, and when Congress comes back to Washington, I’m sure there will be many discussions with our friends on Capitol Hill and also our friends in state legislatures across the country to ensure that we’re protecting the integrity of the vote for the American people,” Leavitt said.
“And it’s quite mind-boggling that the Democrat Party could stand in opposition to common sense. He wants to ensure election integrity. There were great efforts that were made in 2024,” she added.
