Trump uses federal power to influence the midterms: publicly funded ads, cheques and checks of voter rolls

President Donald Trump is using unusual tools of federal power to help Republicans in the 3 November midterm elections — from television ads funded by taxpayers to sending $500 cheques to around a million Americans — as USA Today reports.

According to USA Today’s reporting from Washington, election ads paid for with public money are already being broadcast on television, including an ad funded with around $20 million by the Department of Homeland Security, the same as his 2024 campaign ad, warning of a “final battle” against the “deep state”.

The administration has also sent $500 Affordable Care Act “rebate” cheques to around a million Americans, while over 20 million seniors will receive cheques of around $100 from the $2 billion Medicare Improvement Fund. Trump has also promised $5,000 for every American adult if Republicans keep Congress — a proposal that Democrats and some MAGA voices have called a “bribe”.

Beyond the money, Trump has launched a rare mid-decade push to redraw electoral maps to favour Republicans in the House of Representatives, has issued executive orders to restrict voting and has authorised checks of voter rolls by federal agents. The Department of Homeland Security is looking for non-citizen voters on the electoral rolls, while 160 people have been arrested in investigations into illegal voting, the reporting adds.

Critics are alarmed. Adav Noti of the Campaign Legal Center says the efforts are “almost all… illegal”, while Harvard professor Steven Levitsky says that “Trump has emptied the entire tool shed in search of means to manipulate the elections”. Senator Mark Warner says: “I think he feels unconstrained.” White House spokesman Davis Ingle defends the actions as “public service” announcements and efforts to keep the Republican majorities.

Even more extreme ideas are circulating among the president’s supporters — sending ICE agents near polling stations, declaring a national security emergency or using the Insurrection Act. In an interview with Time magazine on 28 September, Trump said: “I don’t rule anything out, nor do I confirm it.” Meanwhile, General Dan Caine wrote on 1 September to Senator Slotkin that the military has no plans to send troops to polling stations, and Senate Democrats sent a letter on 25 September to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, accusing him of the “illegal federalisation” of the elections.