Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem suggested on Friday that her department has a broad role in election security, claiming she has the authority to identify “vulnerabilities” in the election system and implement “mitigation measures” to make sure local and state elections are “run correctly.”

Noem argued during a press conference in Arizona, where she was pushing for passage of a national voter ID law, that elections fell within the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) mission of “maintaining critical infrastructure.”

“I would say that many people believe that it may be one of the most important things that we need to make sure we trust, is reliable, and that when it gets to Election Day, that we’ve been proactive to make sure that we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders to lead this country through the days that we have, knowing that people can trust it,” she said.

A clip of those comments began circulating on social media Saturday morning, drawing swift criticism from Democratic lawmakers and political commentators.

“This is Trump’s idea of democracy: leaders get to select their voters instead of the other way around,” Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote on the social platform X.

The House passed the SAVE America Act on Wednesday, a bill that would require Americans to show photo ID when voting in federal elections and proof of U.S. citizenship to register. If enacted, the legislation also mandate that states remove non-citizens from its voter rolls.

Its passage tees up debate in the Senate, where similar legislation has stalled in past years over Democratic opposition. At least one Republican, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), has indicated she does not support the effort.

With prospects murky, President Trump on Friday floated the idea of issuing an executive order that would accomplish the same goal.

“There will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Critics have slammed the proposal as an attack on voting rights and warned it could disenfranchise millions of legal voters, including women whose married names do not match their passports or birth certificates.

Noem pushed back on that opposition on Friday.

“Each of the arguments laid out to criticize this bill are baseless speculation from the radical left because they want illegal aliens to vote in our elections,” she said.

Noem has come under fire in recent weeks for her rhetoric surrounding immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota, particularly her hasty use of the term “domestic terrorism” to describe the actions of two U.S. citizens fatally shot by federal officers.

Trump has so far defended Noem and resisted bipartisan pressure for her resignation or firing. Former Obama adviser David Axelrod suggested in a post on X that Noem’s comments on election security could help explain why.

“THIS is why @KristiNoem will remain in place, despite her flagrant, corrupt mismanagement of the @DHS, at least through the midterm elections,” he wrote. “@POTUS wants a loyal apparatchik in place who will do whatever is necessary to ensure ’the right leaders’ win.”