The alarm bells are ringing. Five House Democrats appeared at a shadow hearing on Wednesday during which they warned that President Donald Trump and his allies are actively trying to interfere with next month’s midterm elections. While the members of Congress were clearly concerned about Trump’s ongoing efforts to suppress voting, they also touted their work to confront the issue and expressed optimism the president will not, ultimately, be able to derail the democratic process.
“We know this playbook. We know his personality. He’s a cheater. He’s tried it before. He’ll continue to try it,” Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) said to TPM following the event. “We are prepared. … We have a collective legal team to push back.”
Other representatives emphasized to TPM the importance of voter awareness, and of turnout, and expressed optimism that those two factors together would blunt efforts to undermine democracy.
“As Donald Trump continues to try to prevent people from voting and to reduce voter turnout, that’s gonna reverberate where the American people will be more determined to come out to vote, to make sure that they have a voice,” Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) said. Trump’s actions, he said, make “it clear to them every day who is a threat to our democracy and they will want to reverse that.”
The shadow hearing, which took place in Meng’s Queens district, was convened by Democrats on the Committee on House Administration, who have put together an election security task force led by Ranking Member Joe Morelle (D-NY). That task force, which was put together at the behest of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, has been focused on wargaming potential threats to the vote and coordinating with legal and civil rights groups. As part of that work, Morelle has been barnstorming the country holding shadow hearings, which are unofficial proceedings convened by members of the House minority, to hear from local experts about their concerns and to raise public awareness.
Meng praised Morelle for “traveling the country to spread the word,” checking in with local election boards, and helping to build a “collective legal team.” While Meng noted Trump’s dramatic attempts to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election, she is confident the work being done to prevent similar threats this year will succeed.
“I’d be shocked if he didn’t try to cheat, right? Like, that is literally his M.O.,” Meng said of Trump, adding, “We saw it in Georgia. We saw it on January 6th. But again, democracy will prevail.”
Morelle took a similar tack as he opened the hearing, which was also attended by Meeks , Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y), and Rep. Paul Tomko (D-N.Y.), and congressional candidate Brad Lander. While he noted Trump and his allies — many of whom were directly involved in the various plots and schemes to reverse the result in 2020 — have actively worked to block mail in ballots, to spread false claims about the election, and even to consider plans to avoid seating new members of Congress, Morelle also pointed out the administration has lost every single court case related to their efforts to curb voting.
“In my view there is nothing more urgent in this moment than protecting American democracy. … Ballots must be counted fairly and accurately and the House that is reflective of the will of the American people must be organized and seated properly on January 3, 2027. … In this fight for a free and fair election we are winning. So, for people who are concerned about threats, we are winning every time.”
Morelle rattled off several things the Trump administration has done that could affect the voting process, including threatening to deploy ICE agents at polls, which is a clear violation of federal law, and defunding cybersecurity agencies that combat foreign election interference. In the face of this, Morelle also encouraged people to “make a voting plan,” to be aware of their polling places and deadlines, and to sign up as a poll worker or watcher if they are able.
The members heard from several experts including Bethany Li, who is executive director of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), and who explained how Asian voters can be harmed by the “misinformation around non-citizen voting” that is being spread by President Trump and other Republicans.
“Already we have been hearing from local community partners across the country about how this administration’s misinformation has created confusion and fear among naturalized citizens who are unsure if they are eligible to vote as a result of the federal government’s attacks on birthright citizenship,” said Li.
Li said her organization is doing poll monitoring in Asian-American communities in ten different states. Asians make up approximately 44 percent of the population in the Queens district where the shadow hearing took place. AALDEF is part of a coalition of civil rights groups that filed a lawsuit against the potential deployment of ICE at the polls. Li further explained the impact of those threats.
“For Asian American communities, the potential consequences of such encounters really are not an abstract concern,” she said, adding, “Our communities include millions of immigrants. Just the insinuation that immigration enforcement could be near a polling location can create fear and confusion about who’s safe to vote.”
The members and experts who spoke at the hearing also emphasized voter turnout as a way to counter election threats. In response to a question from Meeks, John Cusick of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, stressed that the public has the ability to resist attempts to “sow distrust” in the voting process.
“Turnout is that solution. People should continue to show up,” Cusick said. “They’re expecting voters to not turn out.”
Meeks echoed that notion when TPM asked him about Trump’s recent Oval Office meeting with election conspiracy theorist Tina Peters, a former Colorado county official who was convicted of multiple felonies for her role in efforts to overturn the 2020 vote. Peters, who helped her fellow election deniers access election systems, was released after just a quarter of her sentence amid pressure from Trump. Meeks said he hoped people would react to learning about Trump’s efforts to interfere by turning out in strong numbers.
“What we’re doing and what we think will happen as a result of the work is that the American people see what’s happening also,” he said. “My confidence is in the American people.”
For his part, Morelle said the coalition of politicians, local officials, lawyers, and advocates who are confronting this issue are making progress. Thanks to the legal victories and other progress, he said the number of dangers being monitored by the task force is ticking down.
“We have monitored over 150 threats. The good news is: that threat list is getting shorter. By no means is it all gone away, but it gets shorter every day and we’re watching every single day as well,” Morelle said. “And I want to, you know, shout out to all the unsung heroes. I mean, there are thousands of people daily working throughout this country, attorneys, community activists, communicators, influencers … there’s so many people engaged in this effort.”
TPM asked Lander, who is in the midst of his first campaign for Congress, about one consequential Trump administration change to voting that has not gone away. Recent cuts to the Postal Service are continuing to cause delays to postmarking that could affect voter registrations and even ballots. Lander noted that’s another area where public awareness matters since people need to know they might need extra time for their paperwork.
“There’s no silver bullet here to protecting the integrity of our elections, but making sure people are paying attention is critical,” Lander said. “All we can do is make sure people know their rights.”
Along with the efforts of advocates and the task force, another reason for the Democrats’ optimism about turnout swamping Trump’s interference efforts is the president’s record low poll numbers. In his comments after the hearing, Espaillat suggested those could have the biggest impact of all.
“The way to stop a bully is to punch him in the nose,” Espaillat said with a laugh. “And the American people are punching Trump right in the nose.”
They aren’t “trying to interfere…” They are interfering. Please stop hedging.
“And the American people are punching Trump right in the nose.”
And, gravy will come out.