Trump Admin Pushed to Strip Voting Machines From Half of America Before the Midterms

A senior White House adviser tasked with investigating the 2020 election sought to remove Dominion Voting Systems machines from more than half of all US states, according to a Reuters exclusive published on 22 May 2026. The plan, driven by White House adviser Kurt Olsen, centred on asking whether the Commerce Department could declare Dominion's components national security risks, a move that would have effectively outlawed the machines from use in federal elections.

The idea emerged, sources said, as Olsen and other officials brainstormed about how the federal government could take control over elections from US states, an idea publicly aired by Trump. In 2024, at least 27 states relied on Dominion machines, and Olsen's plan, had it succeeded, would have upended the election infrastructure of the majority of the country ahead of the November midterms.

A Plan Rooted in Debunked Conspiracy

A main focus of Olsen's efforts to find evidence of foreign hacking is the debunked theory that Dominion machines were infected with code controlled by Venezuelans to steal the 2020 election from Trump. Repeated investigations and lawsuits since 2020 have produced no evidence that Dominion machines were hacked.

In 2023, Fox News paid Dominion $787 million (£619 million) in a defamation case over false election-rigging claims. Despite this, Trump has continued to repeat the allegations. A September White House meeting convened to discuss the machines included cyber experts at the National Security Council. The group, which included Olsen's team, discussed whether Dominion's equipment contained traces of Venezuelan code.

Olsen wanted a national system of hand-counted paper ballots, a frequent Trump demand that election-security researchers and officials in multiple states have argued would be less accurate and potentially riskier than the current system of machines with auditable paper trails that almost all cities and states use.

Who Else Was Involved

Others involved in the deliberations included Paul McNamara, a senior aide of Trump's spy chief Tulsi Gabbard, and Brian Sikma, a special assistant to Trump who works on his Domestic Policy Council. Olsen has worked closely with Gabbard's Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

Early last summer, McNamara asked officials in the Commerce Department to consider the potential designation of Dominion chips and software as a national security risk. The plan ultimately collapsed because Olsen and other administration staffers failed to provide evidence to justify such a move, two sources said.

Olivia Coleman, a spokesperson for Gabbard's agency, said ODNI, including McNamara, 'did not brief on nor coordinate a plan with the Department of Commerce to take actions to ban Dominion voting machines.' Olsen, McNamara and Sikma did not respond to requests for interviews.

Senators Demand Olsen's Removal

Responding to the Reuters report, Democratic US Senator Alex Padilla said Olsen should be fired, calling him a threat to democracy in a post on X. Padilla has been one of the most vocal critics of Olsen's role in the administration.

In a letter published on his Senate website, Padilla warned that 'if he remains in government during the 2026 general election, there is a clear and foreseeable risk that he will seek to interfere in the free and fair administration of the 2026 general election.'

The revelations form part of a broader pattern of the Trump administration pushing against the boundaries of state election authority. A Reuters investigation earlier this month found administration officials and investigators in at least eight states have sought confidential records, pressed for access to voting equipment and re-examined voter-fraud cases that courts and bipartisan reviews have rejected.

With the November 2026 midterms approaching, the scrutiny of federal conduct around voting infrastructure carries significant consequences for the integrity of American elections and the constitutional authority of states to run them.