TRANSCRIPT: Leader Schumer Remarks At Virtual Press Conference With Senator Padilla On Launching The First-Ever Senate Election Observer Program

Washington, D.C. – Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) spoke at a press conference with Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) on their Senate Election Observer Program as Trump escalates attacks on free and fair elections. Below is a transcript of Leader Schumer’s remarks:

So today, we're now, Senator Padilla and I are announcing the first-ever Senate Elections Observer Program.

The program, the first of its kind in the U.S. Senate, will put trained, official observers on the ground as the Senate's eyes and ears in the Senate races.

Their role is transparent, official, and non-interfering. They observe, document, and report the facts. They will not run elections, count votes, or advocate for candidates, but the goal is simple and important: document threats, protect voter confidence, and make sure fair elections are decided by the voters, not partisan meddling. Why are we launching this now? Because the threats to the 2026 election are not hypothetical. They're happening in real time. Donald Trump's trying to shake America's faith in the midterm elections before a single vote is cast. And just yesterday, Trump made the stakes painfully clear.

He decided to burn down a good bipartisan bill that will help Americans afford a home. Americans are struggling under the weight of his horrific agenda that's raised costs everywhere. And why did he burn it down? He wants the Senate to - he's desperate, and he wants the Senate to pass an abomination of a bill that would let Trump pick who gets to vote.

Let me say this plainly. Trump is holding housing relief hostage, so he gets to pick who gets to vote in the SAVE Act. Families are struggling with high costs. Housing is out of reach. Trump knows his administration is not delivering for the American people.

But his priority isn’t lowering costs. It's restricting the ballot. He's talked about it regularly. It's about changing the electorate to “guarantee the midterms.” That's what he said. He knows he can't win in a free and fair election. And so he's trying to jaundice us, to cheat, to steal the election. Trump has spent years spreading election lies, pushing illegal voting executive orders, trying to nationalize his voter suppression agenda. So we're taking him at his word. We're not waiting for the chaos to arrive. We're preparing now.

So, earlier this year, Alex [Padilla] and I launched our Election Protection Task Force to identify and respond to the threats to the 2026 midterm. And there are lots of things we're doing. You probably read about the exercise that we did a few weeks ago to try and determine what Trump would do and then how to thwart it ahead of time. Well, the Observer Program is the next step in our work to protect elections.

Our elections are safe and secure, and we intend to keep them that way. Voters deserve confidence that their voices will be heard, votes counted, and fair results will not be hijacked by partisan meddling.

And so, the bottom line is we will have observers to report on what's going on. As you know, the Senate is the guardian of free and fair elections to the Senate. And that's been true for decades and decades and decades. We don't want anyone interfering. And this group that we are putting together will make sure that we know everything that they are doing, so we can thwart any ways to jaundice, to steal our elections. Our elections are free and fair, and that's our mission.

Fair elections, trusted results. Our elections have always been free and fair, and Senate Democrats are doing everything in our power to ensure that they always will be.

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