New CNN reporting revealed the potential "next shoe to drop" in President Donald Trump's efforts to disrupt the 2026 midterm elections.
The Trump administration has made several attempts to bend the midterms in favor of Republicans. For instance, Trump has repeatedly pushed Republicans to pass his landmark election bill, known as the SAVE Act, which would largely eliminate mail-in ballots. Trump has also directed the post office to limit who they deliver mail-in ballots to, and asked the Department of Homeland Security to develop its own voter registration list to ensure that illegal immigrants do not vote, something that is already extraordinarily uncommon.
But correspondent Gabe Cohen revealed on CNN's "News Central" Thursday that another plan may be in the works, one involving the Commerce Department and Secretary Howard Lutnick.
For instance, Cohen said Lutnick is considered the architect of the post office rules that the Supreme Court is currently reviewing.
"Sources tell me that it was actually Lutnick and his team who were the architects of that order and the directives that it included, directives that now are creating a lot of concern and confusion among election officials who are saying, 'We cannot implement this ahead of the midterms,'" Cohen said.
He added that Lutnick also appears to be behind a plot to limit which voting machines are used in the midterms, as well as a plan to disrupt how the Census Bureau tabulates the 2030 census, which determines political representation in Congress, among other things.
"This is something to keep your eye on because this may be the next shoe to drop," Cohen said. "We know that Trump allies, including some senior administration officials, have been pressuring Secretary Lutnick to take action on voting machines ahead of the midterms, because the feeling is that he can effectively ban many of them by declaring them a national security threat, because as the head of commerce, he has some authority over supply chains."
