Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said he does not support President Trump’s proposal for Republicans to “take over” the voting process in more than a dozen states and “nationalize” the midterm elections, declaring the president’s call to action blatantly unconstitutional.
Asked about the president’s statement that Republicans “should nationalize voting,” Paul told MS NOW’s Stephanie Rule on Tuesday that “that’s not how elections are written in the Constitution.”
Paul noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has limited states in some ways, such as prohibiting them from enacting different rules for certain issues, including term limits. But he said the Constitution gives states the power to determine the time, place and matters of elections.
“For example, the Supreme Court did rule that Washington state can’t set term limits on federal officials if Georgia doesn’t do the same. It has to be uniform election law,” the Kentucky Republican said.
“But in terms of the time, place and manner of the election, under the Constitution, it is a state activity,” he continued. “So, I’m not in favor of nationalizing it.”
Paul added that Democrats tried to enact sweeping national election reforms when former President Joe Biden was in office, but Republicans were blocked in the Senate.
“I oppose Nancy Pelosi’s bill that would nationalize elections, but I also oppose any bill from this administration that would nationalize elections,” he said, referring to the Democratic former speaker from California.
Trump on Tuesday doubled down on calls for a Republican “nationalization” vote, despite White House efforts to soften his previous statements on the issue. He said the federal government should take a more active role in elections to combat what he called “corruption.”
“Look at some of the places — the horrific corruption in elections — the federal government should not allow that to happen,” the president said. “The federal government should step in.”
This follows a statement he made to conservative commentator and former FBI deputy director Dan Bongino in a podcast that aired Monday, saying Republicans should “take over” the election.
“Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over,'” he said. “We should take over voting rights, at least in many places – 15 places. Republicans should nationalize voting rights.”
The statements were met with pushback from several prominent Republican lawmakers, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.).
Thune told reporters that voters should be required to show identification to prove they are citizens but that he did not support a federal seizure of the right to vote.
“I support only citizens voting and showing ID at the polling station,” he said. “I think it makes sense. … But I’m not in favor of federalizing elections, no. I think it’s a constitutional issue.”
“I’m a big believer in decentralization and distributed power,” the senator added. “And I think it’s harder to hack 50 election systems than it is to hack one system. This has been a system that worked well, at least in my opinion.”
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports and streaming video, head to The Hill.