President Donald Trump took heat from a major swing-state governor and potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender who scoffed Wednesday at the idea of eliminating mail-in balloting by fiat.
"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."
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"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 said. He was referring to Act 77 of 2019, which several Republicans supported but later accused Democrats and left-leaning judges of substantially altering.
Shapiro said Pennsylvania has enjoyed "free and fair" elections, adding Trump has both won and lost the commonwealth in contests throughout his political career.
"For him to try and put more misinformation out there, to stoke more division and fear amongst 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."
Shapiro said any Trump order will have "no bearing" on Keystone State elections, and he will support county election officials in all 67 counties in permitting mail-in voting.
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Former Pennsylvania House Speaker Bryan Cutler, R-Lancaster, lambasted the bipartisan mail-in-vote law Shapiro referenced, accusing Democrats and the popularly-elected Pennsylvania Supreme Court of "diluting" it from its original purpose.
"Only one party [worked to] eliminate security safeguards and delay the timelines for elections," Cutler said in an LNP column, adding the Democrat-controlled high bench "unconstitutionally acted to change the law for receiving and counting ballots [and] allowed for drop boxes … and stripped the security provisions for mail-in ballots."
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On Monday, Trump foreshadowed changes to the election system, pledging to "lead a movement to get rid of mail-in ballots."
Trump wrote on Truth Social he would sign an executive order in that regard to "help bring honesty to the 2026 midterm elections," saying states are "merely agent[s]" for the federal government.
Asked for comment, the White House pointed to remarks White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt made in 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.
