Defend Elections from Trump Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Defend Elections from Trump Act prohibits federal funds from being obligated or spent to order, bring, or keep federal law-enforcement, intelligence, or military personnel acting under color of law at domestic election locations. Covered locations include polling places, election offices, vote-canvassing, counting, and certification sites, and other places where an election is held.
The restriction begins on enactment and ends December 31, 2026. A federal presence is permitted if Congress enacts specific statutory authorization for it. The restriction also does not prevent an otherwise qualified federal employee or service member from entering the person's own voting district to cast a ballot.
Who Benefits and How
Voters benefit from a temporary restriction on federally funded official personnel at election locations. State election administrators, local election officials, and poll workers gain protection from an unauthorized federal operational presence while voting, counting, canvassing, or certification is underway. Federal personnel who are qualified voters retain their individual right to vote.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Federal law-enforcement agencies, intelligence agencies, and military commands may not use available funds for a covered election-site presence unless Congress specifically authorizes it. Federal budget officers and operational planners must identify covered locations, distinguish official presence from personal voting, and confirm statutory authorization. Congress must enact specific authority before a covered federally funded deployment can proceed during the restricted period.
Key Provisions
- Prohibits federal spending for covered official personnel at domestic election locations.
- Extends the restriction to polling, election-office, canvassing, counting, and certification sites.
- Requires specific statutory authorization from Congress for a covered presence.
- Limits the spending prohibition to the period ending December 31, 2026.
- Protects qualified federal personnel who enter their own district to vote.
- Restricts official deployment rather than individual exercise of suffrage.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Bars federal funds through December 31, 2026, from being used to order, bring, or keep federal law-enforcement, intelligence, or military personnel at domestic election locations without specific statutory authorization, while preserving their right to vote.
Key Policy Areas
Elections, Federal Law Enforcement, Intelligence, Military Personnel, Voting Rights, Federal Spending
Primary Purpose
Bars federal funds through December 31, 2026, from being used to order, bring, or keep federal law-enforcement, intelligence, or military personnel at domestic election locations without specific statutory authorization, while preserving their right to vote.
Policy Domains
Section 3 temporary funding prohibition at election locations
Identified Gains
- Voters at domestic election locations
- State election administrators
- Local election officials
- Poll workers at covered locations
- Federal service members exercising voting rights
Identified Costs
- Federal law-enforcement agency planners
- Federal intelligence agency planners
- Military commanders planning domestic election support
- Federal agency budget officers
- Congressional committees considering specific authorization
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition …
Introduced in House
Mr. Moulton introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Local election officials, Poll workers at covered locations, State election administrators
Federal service members exercising voting rights, Military commanders planning domestic election support
Positive-direction: Federal service members exercising voting rights
Negative-direction: Military commanders planning domestic election support
Federal agency budget officers, Federal intelligence agency planners
Voters at domestic election locations
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "congress"
- → Congress providing specific statutory authorization
- "election_location"
- → Domestic polling, election-office, canvassing, counting, certification, or other election site
- "federal_personnel"
- → Federal law-enforcement, intelligence, or military personnel acting under color of law
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The individual right of otherwise qualified federal personnel to vote in their own district.
A polling place, election office, vote-canvassing, counting, certification, or other domestic location where an election is held.
Federally funded law-enforcement, intelligence, or military personnel acting under color of law without specific statutory authorization.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology