Written by Jonathan Caldwell.
President Donald Trump wasted no time this week, signing an executive order on March 26, 2025, that demands proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration and insists all federal election ballots be tallied by Election Day. It’s a move that’s already stirring the pot—some see it as a long-overdue fix to a shaky system, while others call it a sledgehammer to democracy. Either way, it’s classic Trump: big, bold, and unapologetic.
New Rules for the Ballot Box
The order lays out a clear directive—anyone wanting to vote in federal elections needs to show up with government-issued ID proving they’re a U.S. citizen. Think passports, REAL IDs, or military cards. No exceptions. It also slams the door on counting mail-in ballots that trickle in after Election Day, a practice that’s sparked endless debates in recent years. To make it stick, Trump’s tapped the attorney general to team up with state officials, sharing data to sniff out fraud or anything else that smells off.
Standing at the podium just before putting pen to paper, Trump hinted at more to come. “We’re taking steps—big ones—to get fair elections,” he said, calm but firm. For a lot of folks, that’s a promise worth hearing. Imagine a factory worker in Pennsylvania, someone who’s watched recounts drag on and wondered if their vote even matters. This could feel like a lifeline. The order itself doesn’t mince words: America’s been too lax on basic election rules, and that’s got to change.
What’s driving this? The text of the order points to gaps—like non-citizens slipping onto voter rolls or late ballots muddying results—that it says threaten the whole “constitutional Republic” idea. Whether that’s a real risk or just rhetoric depends on who you ask. But the administration’s not stopping at words; they’re tying federal election cash to states playing ball with these new standards. It’s a carrot-and-stick play that might just work.
The Pushback and the Politics
Critics didn’t even wait for the ink to dry. The Brennan Center for Justice fired off a post on X claiming this could “block tens of millions” of voters, arguing presidents can’t just rewrite election rules like this. It’s the kind of line Democrats have leaned on for years—call it voter suppression and watch the outrage build. They’re tying it to the SAVE Act, a GOP bill floating around Congress that’s pushing the same citizenship-proof angle. Most on the left hate it, saying it’s a solution looking for a problem.
Flip the coin, though, and you’ve got Trump’s camp arguing this is about trust. The order spells it out: elections need to be “free, fair, and honest,” not bogged down by fraud or doubt. That’s a sentiment that hits home for anyone who’s ever questioned a close race. Take a retiree in Arizona—someone who’s seen tight elections flip on a dime. To them, a little extra paperwork might not sound so bad if it means clarity. Still, the fight’s far from over; legal challenges are almost a given.
Taxation Gets a Radical Twist
Then there’s the other half of this week’s shake-up: the External Revenue Service. Trump’s team is spinning up a whole new agency to rake in tariffs, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick practically beaming about it at a Monday meeting. He pegged April 2, 2025—“liberation day,” as Trump’s dubbed it—as a key moment, though he didn’t say if that’s when the ERS starts running or just when the hype peaks. The goal? Use that tariff cash to ease out the IRS, the tax-collecting giant everyone loves to hate.
Picture this: a single mom in Texas, juggling bills and taxes, hears the government might lean on tariffs instead of her paycheck. That’s the pitch—foreign companies pay more, regular folks pay less. Trump laid it out at his inauguration, promising the ERS would handle “all tariffs, duties, and revenues” so the U.S. stops getting “taken advantage of” in trade. It’s a slick idea, but here’s the catch: Congress created the IRS, and only Congress can kill it. Defunding’s an option, sure, but that’s a tall order in a divided Capitol Hill.
The two moves—voting and taxes—aren’t as disconnected as they seem. Both scream control: who gets a say in the country and who foots the bill. The administration’s betting that tighter elections and a tariff-driven economy will sell as a win for everyday Americans. Whether it pans out is anyone’s guess, but the ambition’s hard to miss.
Our Take
Trump’s latest moves are a gamble, no question. The election order tackles a real worry—people don’t trust the system like they used to. Requiring citizenship proof and cutting off late ballots could steady that ship, but it’s not flawless. Some voters, especially in rural spots or low-income areas, might scramble to dig up the right ID. States could push back too; not everyone’s got the setup to pivot this fast. Still, the intent’s clear: make elections ironclad, or at least look that way.
The ERS is wilder. If it works, it could shift how we think about taxes—less from your wallet, more from trade. That’s a big if, though. Tariffs depend on global markets, and the IRS won’t go quietly without a congressional brawl. As someone who’s tracked policy for years, I’d say this is Trump at his most disruptive—swinging for the fences on two fronts. It’s gutsy, maybe even smart, but the devil’s in the execution.
