Leader Schumer Floor Remarks Announcing The Launch Of Senate Democrats’ New Task Force To Combat Threats To Democracy & Free And Fair Elections

Washington, D.C. – Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) spoke on the Senate floor announcing the creation of a Democratic elections task force aimed at identifying and mitigating threats and safeguarding elections ahead of the midterms, as President Trump and Republicans attempt to undermine our democracy. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

Even before [today’s] wretched [SCOTUS] decision, we knew that the MAGA far right has been hellbent on trying to undermine our democracy. We know the MAGA right is actively trying to rig our elections and dilute our democracy. We knew it long before this decision.

Donald Trump knows, his party knows, that they’re at risk of losing this election in 2026, which is why they’re working round the clock to tilt the scales unfairly in their favor.

Trump issued another executive order a month ago to subvert our elections. Last week, they took aim at the Southern Poverty Law Center to chill speech and suppress actions from organizations that protect democracy. Trump continues to push for his SAVE Act to disenfranchise tens of millions of Americans. And he’s stacked his administration with election deniers.

So today, I am launching the Democratic Party’s most expansive effort to date to protect the 2026 midterm elections, and to shield them from the direct threats posed by President Trump and MAGA Republicans.

This afternoon, a group of Senators and I will meet with former Attorney General Eric Holder, Marc Elias, and some of the country’s top election experts to talk about how we can be ready for any and all threats that might come against our elections this fall. And I want to thank my Senate Democratic colleagues for joining in today’s meeting.

We know that some on the extreme right will try to rig the system. Donald Trump said it, he said he can’t win the election except by rigging it. That’s more or less what he said.

Donald Trump’s Justice Department sought to seize state voter rolls. Right-wingers raided election offices in Georgia. They pressed election officials in Arizona to turn over documents. Online radicals are threatening poll workers, spreading lies about voter fraud, and here in Congress, hard-right Republicans are trying to pass Jim Crow 2.0 in the SAVE Act.

These threats are only going to intensify the closer we get to Election Day. So our election fraud task force represents the most aggressive and coordinated effort to date to make sure our elections this fall are fair and protected. The goal of our task force is to ensure that every vote counts, and every American can participate in our democracy without coercion, intimidation, or threats from Donald Trump or anyone else.

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