Trump pushes Republicans on voting bill, demanding an end to most mail balloting

Trump demands Republicans pass a strict voting bill, seeking to end mail balloting and tighten election laws before midterms.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday (March 9, 2026) that he won’t sign any other legislation into law until Congress passes a strict proof-of-citizenship voting bill that he says also must end Americans' ability to vote by mail, a startling demand months before the midterm elections.

Mr. Trump told House Republicans during their annual retreat at his golf club in Florida that he doesn't think they will win elections unless voting laws are toughened up to prevent fraud — even though mail ballots are popular in many states and federal law already requires that voters in national elections be U.S. citizens, with scant evidence that noncitizens ever try to vote.

The President wants to bolster the so-called SAVE America Act, which the House has already approved, and he pressed the Senate to push past its filibuster rules to send it to his desk. Voting experts have said the bill could disenfranchise some 20 million American voters who don't have birth certificates or other documents readily available, a number that would likely swell with the additional ban on mail balloting that Mr. Trump is demanding.

“I'm not going to sign anything until this is approved,” Mr. Trump said, calling it his No. 1 priority.

“It'll guarantee the midterms,” he said. “If you don't get it, big trouble.”

The President’s determination to impose election changes has sounded alarms from voting rights groups as the Trump administration reaches deep into the realm of the States, which, under the Constitution, are in charge of election ballots and procedures in the U.S.