Trump DOJ submits to election demands in second term
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The gist
The Justice Department asked a federal court to block certification of Alaska's Senate election if incumbent Sen.
The filing, the first of its kind in generations, follows Trump's demands and comes before the Nov. 3 midterms.
Background
Donald Trump, the US President, is in his second term; the Justice Department is the federal agency whose election interventions are the subject of the coverage. The Constitution gives the president no role in running elections, which are run by states. The Alaska filing came in response to the president's rants about the issue, officials said, and hours after it was filed Trump told reporters, "I'm the one that said do it." The interventions come as his party faces the possibility of losing control of Congress ahead of the Nov. 3 midterms.
How it unfolded
- Mar 2025Trump issued an executive order requiring people using the federal voter registration form to show a passport or other document proving citizenship.
- Apr 24, 2025A federal district court in Washington, D.C., ordered the administration to pause the order's citizenship-document requirement.
- May 2025The Justice Department began demanding voter files from almost every state, apparently seeking a national voter file and to force states to remove certain voters.
- Oct 2025The court permanently blocked the citizenship-document requirement.
- Jan 2026The court blocked additional provisions of the executive order.
- Jul 13, 2026In United States v. Warner, a ruling said a voter-data demand was "devoid of any factual basis."
- Oct 15, 2026The Justice Department asked a court to block certification of the Alaska Senate election if Sen. Dan S. Sullivan were to lose narrowly, and separately sued California over mailing ballots to more than 20,000 likely noncitizens.
- Oct 18, 2026CBS News reported federal agents had seized ballots and voting machines had been examined; the department had charged more than 100 noncitizens with voting illegally since the start of Trump's second term.
- Oct 20, 2026The Brennan Center reported at least 34 federal district court decisions had halted or blocked administration election efforts, and that the department was 0–26 in its 31 voter-data lawsuits. Democratic Party leaders filed a federal lawsuit seeking to bar the administration from purging legally registered voters.
- Oct 24, 2026The New York Times reported the Alaska filing was the first of its kind in generations and came in response to the president's rants; hours after it was filed, Trump told reporters, "I'm the one that said do it."
Who’s saying what
- Official
- The Justice Department argues the US suffers an injury when certification of a federal election is "tainted by a frivolous candidacy" because it undermines confidence in government.
- Expert
- Notre Dame election law professor Derek Muller called the Alaska theory "strange and unusual" and said he doesn't think a court will buy it.
- Party
- Democratic plaintiffs say Trump has "bombarded the American people with lies and misinformation" about elections even as courts overwhelmingly reject the effort.
- Caution
- Utah Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, a Republican, said threats now also come "from within our own government," and called the idea of prosecution "silly."
- Support
- DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said work is being done to "ensure that Americans can trust the results" of elections.
Still unverified
The administration has alleged, without providing evidence, that 278,000 noncitizens are registered to vote. Some Justice Department officials raised concerns about the merits and constitutionality of the Alaska case, according to two people speaking anonymously to avoid retribution. California Secretary of State Shirley Weber questioned the accuracy of federal data identifying more than 20,000 likely noncitizens.