Trump's Elections Order at 18 Months: Courts Block Proof of Citizenship and DOJ Loses 26 Voter Roll Suits

Executive Order 14248, signed in March 2025, told the Election Assistance Commission to require documentary proof of citizenship on the federal voter registration form. Eighteen months later, that requirement is permanently blocked by two federal courts, and the commission that would have to carry it out has no members.

A Congressional Research Service update published on 9 October sets out where the order and its follow-ups stand before the midterms.

The courts

Two courts took the main challenges. In Washington, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly blocked the citizenship requirement in April 2025 and made the ruling permanent in October 2025, adding permanent injunctions on other sections in January 2026. In Massachusetts, in a case brought by 19 states, Judge Denise Casper ruled in June 2026 that the order exceeded the President’s power and violated the separation of powers. The Constitution gives states and Congress, not the President, the power to set election rules.

The order also tied federal grants to states counting only ballots received by Election Day. In June the Supreme Court held in Watson v. RNC that federal law doesn’t require ballots to arrive by Election Day, which undercut that part.

The follow-up order

In March 2026 the President signed a second order, EO 14399. It directs the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to compile lists of citizens for each state and tells the Postal Service to limit ballot mail to voters on those lists.

A district judge blocked the list provisions in June, but on 24 August the Supreme Court lifted that block, 6 to 3, finding the states lacked standing. The Postal Service’s rule is a different story. It was published in late August, blocked by two judges, and on 14 September the Supreme Court declined to revive it. The Postal Service won’t enforce it in 2026.

FEMA’s 2026 election security grants had required states to check voter rolls against DHS’s SAVE citizenship database and phase out ballot-marking devices. FEMA withdrew those conditions in October after a court order.

The voter roll suits

The Justice Department sued 30 states and DC for unredacted copies of their voter rolls, including partial Social Security numbers and driver’s licence numbers. It has lost 26 of those cases, according to a CBS News tracker updated on 1 October. Oklahoma settled by handing over its list. Cases in Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho and Utah are pending. The Sixth Circuit upheld the dismissal of the Michigan case in June. DOJ has appealed most of its losses.

Congress

The SAVE Act, which would write proof of citizenship into federal law, passed the House. In the Senate it can’t get 60 votes. An attempt in April to attach it to the reconciliation bill failed 48 to 50, with four Republicans voting no. House Republicans have also put $10 billion for voter ID grants into the next reconciliation plan, covered in our reconciliation post.

What it means for November

For the midterms, little changes at the polling place. The federal form doesn’t require proof of citizenship, mail ballots go out as usual, and states set their own deadlines. The part with real effect is the DHS citizenship lists, which the Supreme Court let go forward. How states use them, and how many eligible voters get flagged in error, is the thing to watch after 3 November.