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Deceive, Disrupt, Deny in full effect

The last four months of the Executive Override strategy

In March, we published Executive Override: How the Trump administration is using federal power to deceive Americans, disrupt our elections, and deny fair results — and what we can do to stop it. The report laid out a set of actions the Trump administration is pursuing to weaponize the full power of the federal government against our elections. 

In the months since our report was published, Trump’s override strategy has only accelerated. As unending corruption, a failed Middle Eastern war, and a crumbling economy continue to erode political support for the president’s partisan allies, he has ramped up efforts to manipulate the election to cling to power and evade democratic accountability. At the same time, the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, has issued a series of decisions that hasten, rather than check, this tilting of the playing field.

And yet, the strategy outlined in Executive Override continues to run into obstacles: The law gives state and local officials, not the executive branch, the power to administer elections — and where the administration has tried to usurp that power, lower federal courts have repeatedly rebuffed them. At the same time, a growing number of Americans are coming together to defend elections and our right to decide who represents us, and to hold leaders accountable for abusing their power.

This July 2026 update covers the last four months in the battle between the Executive Override strategy and the American people working to protect a meaningful chance to participate in our democracy in the midterm elections. We will issue the next update this fall.

The last four months

The last four months of the Executive Override strategy

Deceive

California conspiracy theories spawn baseless investigations

After his preferred candidate lost the L.A. mayoral primary, Trump and his allies pushed election-fraud lies while his U.S. Attorney announced fraud investigations with no stated factual basis.

Trump installs retaliation attack dog as interim intel chief

Bill Pulte lacks the legally required national security experience to be Director of National Intelligence (DNI), but he has a track record of partisan retribution, which makes him the ideal choice to turn the intelligence community into a tool for manufacturing “evidence” of election fraud.

FCC and DOJ intimidate and manipulate news outlets

Independent no longer, the FCC and DOJ are coordinating directly with the White House to punish outlets who report unfavorably on the administration and clearing the path for Trump allies to gain control of media channels.

What We’re Watching

The Director of National Intelligence has access to highly sensitive intelligence that could be used to supercharge election conspiracies, such as selective leaks suggesting foreign interference in the election process.

Disrupt

Unworkable USPS rule threatens mail-in ballots

After Trump’s 2025 election executive order, the USPS proposed a rule casting itself as gatekeeper of who can vote by mail, a role for which it has no expertise. The move is designed to sow confusion and prevent eligible voters from casting ballots.

Trump’s SAVE Act obsession points to a strategy to prebut election results

Trump keeps pushing the SAVE Act above all else, suggesting he wants to position its failure to pass as a pretext to cast election results as tainted and illegitimate.

Political prosecutions target voting organizations and election officials

The administration is not only targeting high-profile critics but civil rights groups, voter registration organizations, and election officials with criminal investigations.

Protest and dissent are met with harassment and prosecution

Alongside its deportation campaign, the administration is surveilling, harassing, and prosecuting protesters and critics to make people hesitate before speaking out.

The Roberts Court accelerates election chaos

A series of recent Roberts Court rulings that gutted the Voting Rights Act, expanded presidential control over independent agencies, and loosened party spending limits have tilted the playing field toward Trump’s allies and made elections easier to subvert.

What We’re Watching

The administration’s voter roll campaign is on a collision course with federal law, which bars voter purges within 90 days of a federal election. Rather than stand down, the administration argues in court that the law doesn’t apply to voters it flags, an issue the Supreme Court won’t resolve until after the midterms. We expect political prosecutions to continue, potentially targeting 2026 candidates with investigations and innuendo, and we’re watching for surges of federal law enforcement into key communities — shows of force that are illegal at the polls and meant to make voters think twice.

Deny

Purging independent voices from the GOP

The president has moved to purge members who defied him or supported accountability for January 6, warning of punishment for voices who challenge election denial.

Paying off election denial henchmen

The proposed $1.8 billion slush fund for January 6 insurrectionists signals the president’s loyalty to those who break the law and commit violence on his behalf.

State allies supercharge election denial

After the Callais decision, state officials have canceled elections, nullified results, and sidelined a non-MAGA officeholder to gain maximum partisan advantage.

What we’re watching

As we get closer to the general election, we are looking out for “zombie lawsuits” designed to seed legal challenges to election results, delays and disruptions to the certification process, and potentially desperate abuses of power, such as declaring a national emergency, seizing ballots and voting machines, or refusing to seat duly-elected members of Congress.

Defeat

Federal district courts hold the line against illegal power grabs

The administration is 0-13 in cases about its attempt to grab state voter roll data. The courts have also ruled against the White House’s attempts to give the Post Office power to decide who can vote by mail and to consolidate an error-prone database of sensitive voter and citizenship data to analyze voter rolls.

Pressure on Congress yields crucial wins

Bipartisan majorities have rejected Trump’s demands to pass the SAVE Act, create the $1.8 billion slush fund for his henchmen, and to confirm Bill Pulte for Director of National Intelligence.

Communities and civil society stand up for each other

Activist groups and communities have effectively organized to coordinate legal and advocacy responses to attacks on civil rights and voting organizations, to mobilize voters and defend the right to protest and dissent, and to stand in solidarity with federal workers who refuse to comply with dangerous and illegal orders.

States pass laws to hold federal agents accountable for civil rights abuses

Working with many organizations and state leaders, Protect Democracy has advanced the Universal Constitutional Remedies Act (UCRA), which would let state residents sue federal agents or officials who violate their constitutional rights through acts like violence, harassment, or intimidation.

What we can do

What we can do 

The administration’s deceive, disrupt, deny strategy may feel overwhelming (that’s intentional). But our movement has a strategy too, and the most important contributions are simple ones. Here are three principles to guide your engagement and our top priority actions everyone can take to defend elections this fall. 

  1. Start close to home. You have the most influence over your own actions and your immediate community: your family, friends, coworkers, faith community, or union. That’s where your effort goes furthest and can really make a difference 
  2. Find a lane and move. Many campaigns and groups are organizing to defend our elections, and every successful effort has used a wide range of tactics, adjusting as the facts changed. You don’t have to find the perfect tactic. Pick action over agonizing. 
  3. Bring what only you can. Your skills, relationships, and resources are the movement’s raw materials — and we need those! Lean into the actions that fit your daily life and interests because those are the habits you’ll stick with. 

With those in mind: 

Organize. Stop voter suppression and election sabotage, starting now. (The counter to disrupt.)

Vote. Vote for the candidates of your choice. And as an act of solidarity, get out the vote everywhere. 

  • Think through who in your community may need support to vote: a ride, a reminder, time off if you’re an employer, a young person voting for the first time? Set a goal to support as many people as you can. 
  • Sign up to be an election worker. Competent, compassionate poll workers make an extraordinary difference in whether elections run smoothly and every eligible voter can cast a ballot and have it counted. 
  • Sign up to help cure ballots. In most states, voters who make a minor mistake, like forgetting to sign the outer envelope, get a chance to fix it and have their vote counted. Cure programs reach those voters in time to do it (look for opportunities to sign up with the League of Women Voters or Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in the fall). 

Prove. Make the results unquestionable. (The counter to deceive.)

  • Serve as a poll observer across the process: logic-and-accuracy testing (where election officials test the machines before voting begins), early vote, election day, mail ballot canvassing, and any audits or recounts. Then share what you saw, however feels comfortable. Firsthand accounts build trust in a way that is invaluable and can’t be replaced. 
  • Be your community’s trusted source. Before and after the election, our communities will be flooded with misinformation about the election process and results. Decide now where you’ll get reliable information – Election Line and Votebeat are great places to start – and be the person who shares it. Learn more about how to combat disinformation here.

Hold the line. Make sure the winners take office (The counter to deny.)

  • The precise work of the post-election period will become clearer as the administration’s strategy plays out. And we will tell you about it as it does. Some of it we can predict now. The officials who certify results answer to our communities, so learn who yours are, and let them know, before the election, that you expect a lawful process. Sign up for updates and alerts, so that if the moment calls for mass mobilization, you hear it early. Know that everything above is preparation for this stage: a movement that fought, won, and will be ready to hold. 

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