Federal government must step up for election integrity

OPINION:

In 2024, Republicans across the country campaigned and won on the issues of election integrity and fiscal responsibility. With just about nine months to go until the all-important midterm elections, it’s time for decisive action.

The American people are sick and tired of lax voting laws that don’t require an ID to cast a ballot and don’t even require proof of citizenship to register to vote. It goes without saying that mail-in voting has remained a glaring problem since the arrival of COVID-19, even though, for decades, bipartisan figures such as former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker have agreed that the practice invites widespread fraud.

Like with so many other issues, the broken status quo in our elections can’t go unaddressed and immediate reform is being demanded.

It doesn’t take a genius to know that secure elections are critical to any thriving democracy, and the United States is no exception. That’s why, according to polling data, 8 in 10 Americans support commonsense reforms such as Voter ID and the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or SAVE Act, which would make sure that only citizens are allowed to register to vote.

Just as important as securing our elections with a sense of urgency is doing something consequential to confront our national embarrassment — a $38 trillion debt — an absolute must. Over the past quarter-century, career politicians in Congress have developed a repulsive addiction to reckless spending, and it must stop now or our country will go bankrupt.

It’s really that simple: The legislative branch controls our nation’s purse strings, and President Trump has said he wants a balanced budget and would sign such an agreement if it is sent to his desk.

That being said, it’s not as straightforward as it was when House Speaker Newt Gingrich made the concept of a balanced budget a reality in the late 1990s. Today, hardly any Democratic members of Congress in either chamber give a hoot about the national debt crisis or our beloved country’s dire financial situation.

Nearly as bad, far too many Republicans talk a good game about cutting federal spending, only to arrive in Washington and morph into spineless political squishes once they meet their first deep-pocketed lobbyist.

It’s welcome news that Republicans in Congress are getting back to regular order and transparency in the appropriations process and working toward the goal of making multitrillion-dollar omnibus bill heists a thing of the past. However, turning the Titanic away from the fiscal iceberg that’s rapidly approaching has been more difficult than anyone could have imagined.

Frankly, passing all the appropriations bills is a positive sign, but going forward, the focus must be on enacting them on time and dramatically shrinking their price tag across the board, and then having the courage to ensure the future solvency of Social Security and Medicare. There’s no way to sugarcoat the mess we’re in. America has gone from $5 trillion in debt to $38 trillion in just 25 years.

So, to all the uniparty career politicians on Capitol Hill who have allowed the drunken spending spree to go on unchecked for so long, the failure to act now is the legacy you’re leaving behind. To the small band of conservative heroes in Congress (you know who you are) who wake up every day sounding the alarm and fighting the lonely fight for fiscal sanity, hardworking American families hear you and stand with you.

Whether we like it or not, these aren’t normal times. Our election system must be fortified and the size and scope of the federal government slashed and reformed without delay. America survived before the Senate filibuster, and it will survive after it.

Democratic filibuster abuse must be addressed now. At a minimum, existing Senate rules must be enforced so obstructionist Democrats are required to talk in order to slow down the passage of voter ID laws that enjoy the massive support of Americans from across the political spectrum.

The argument that every state can be trusted to run its own elections as it sees fit is no longer valid, because blue state after blue state has demonstrated little interest in making long-overdue election integrity reforms. History has proved that sometimes the federal government must step in when states are refusing to do what’s right. This is one of those moments.

Republican leadership in the Senate must come to grips with the fact that the familiar excuse of “Democrats won’t let us do it” no longer passes muster. Our country has a $38 trillion national debt and an election system in which people are losing faith. Time is of the essence, and November will be here before you know it.

• David N. Bossie is the president of Citizens United. He served as a senior adviser to the Trump 2024 and 2020 campaigns. He served as deputy campaign manager for Donald J. Trump for President in 2016 and deputy executive director for the Trump transition team.