A Committee Protecting U.S. Elections Is Under Threat

A Committee Protecting U.S. Elections Is Under Threat

From What A Day by What A Day

May 4, 2026 · 18 min

About this episode

The episode discusses threats to U.S. elections, focusing on the Technical Guidelines Development Committee and recent political actions affecting voting rights.

Last week's Supreme Court decision gutting the Voting Rights Act is big news. But there are tons of other ways that the Trump Administration and the GOP are trying to make it harder for you to vote. Take the Technical Guidelines Development Committee, or TGDC. It's supposed to be a nonpartisan federal committee that determines the standards for voting equipment used in elections across the country. But back in April, a group of election officials sounded the alarm . The Trump Administration has been blocking new appointees to the TGDC and won’t say why — which is a big, big concern with midterm elections just a few months away. So to explain what’s going on with our nation’s voting apparatus, we spoke to Jacob Knutson, a reporter at Democracy Docket. And in headlines, Trump tells Congress that the war in Iran is currently not a war , Tucker Carlson gives a long and winding interview to the New York Times, and we send a bittersweet goodbye to Spirit Airlines . Show Notes: Check out Jacob's piece – https://tinyurl.com/4rjytz3b Call Congress – 202-224-3121 Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/y4y2e9jy What A Day – YouTube –…

People in this episode

Host: What A Day

Guest: Jacob Knutson

Topics covered

  • U.S. elections
  • Voting Rights Act
  • Trump Administration
  • voting equipment standards
  • political news
  • midterm elections

Keywords

  • Voting Rights Act
  • Trump Administration
  • TGDC
  • elections
  • Jacob Knutson
  • political news
  • midterm elections

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Democracy Docket, Trump Administration, GOP, Technical Guidelines Development Committee, Spirit Airlines

Places: U.S.

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