Wow. DOJ is just flailing. After losing 20 consecutive lawsuits seeking states’ unredacted voter rolls, Trump's DOJ conceded Tuesday that its case against Washington is materially no different from the others, but still wants the federal court to accept the argument others have rejected.

After 20 straight losses, Trump DOJ struggles to defend demand for Washington state voter rolls

The concession left DOJ asking the Washington court to reject a judicial consensus that now includes 20 district court rulings and one federal appellate decision — without identifying any distinct fac...

democracydocket.com

What did it take for Todd Blanche's AG nomination to make it through Senate Judiciary? GOP Sens. Cornyn and Tillis basically signed off on the Trump family's immunity from IRS audits — as long as Blanche said Trump's "anti-weaponization fund" was dead.

GOP senators sign off on corrupt immunity deal from IRS audits for Trump and sons

Todd Blanche appears to be on track to lead the DOJ after Sens. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) agreed to the plan.

democracydocket.com

NEW from @jenrice.bsky.social: Residents of a Latino neighborhood in Houston face an uphill battle to hold ICE accountable for the shooting death of a Mexican immigrant earlier this month. And Texas' Trump-backed gerrymander means they will lose the congresswoman ensuring their voice is heard.

ICE killed a man in Houston and residents want answers. But Trump’s gerrymander may take away their voice in Congress

After the November elections, the neighborhood will likely have a GOP congresswoman who has said almost nothing about Salgado Araujo’s killing.

democracydocket.com

It's primary election day in Arizona. Extremist anti-voting candidates are running for the GOP nominations for governor, secretary of state, and attorney general, raising the danger that the 2028 elections could be run by officials eager to erect barriers to the polls and undermine a fair vote.

Election deniers are running for Arizona’s most powerful offices in high-stakes primaries. Here’s what we’re watching

Extremist anti-voting candidates are running for the GOP nominations for governor, secretary of state, and attorney general, raising the danger that the 2028 elections could be run by officials eager ...

democracydocket.com

NEW: President Trump used a primetime address to resurrect debunked claims about the 2020 election, allege sweeping foreign interference and pressure Congress to pass the SAVE America Act. Democratic lawmakers and voting advocates were unimpressed by Trump’s conspiracy-addled oratory.

Trump pushes debunked election lies, demands SAVE America Act in primetime speech

Despite years of claiming that the election was stolen, he presented no evidence that any entity, foreign or domestic, manipulated votes or registration records, or in any way altered the outcome of t...

democracydocket.com

Bipartisanship isn't dead! As Trump's DOJ seeks to gain access to state voter rolls, it has suffered a string of 15 defeats in court. Notably, 9 of the 15 losses — 60% — were handed down by Republican-appointed judges. And 6 of them were Trump-appointed judges.

Most of Trump DOJ’s voter roll losses have come from GOP-appointed judges

The numbers make it difficult for DOJ to portray its perfect losing record as the product of liberal “activist” judges or hostile jurisdictions. Judges with vastly different backgrounds and appointing...

democracydocket.com

In a blistering ruling today, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued the strongest rebuke of Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS from the judiciary yet, characterizing it as an unparalleled expression of self-dealing.

Judge slams Trump’s IRS lawsuit as ‘improper,’ refers acting AG Blanche to bar

The judge characterized Trump's suit as an unparalleled expression of self-dealing.

democracydocket.com

BREAKING: President Donald Trump Thursday dismissed all remaining commissioners on the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), a bipartisan federal agency created to help states administer elections, according to multiple media reports.

In sweeping attack on elections, Trump fires leadership of key federal voting assistance commission

The dismissals leave the elections assistance agency without leadership just months before the upcoming 2026 midterms.

democracydocket.com

What makes this story particularly interesting is that it's part of an intra-GOP feud between the election-denier recorder and regular Republicans on the Maricopa County Board over election administration.

Democracy Docket@democracydocket.com · 4w ago

NEW: In a loss for Arizona voters, the state Supreme Court handed an election denier more power to shape elections in one of the state's largest counties. He will now have final say on early voting, voter registration and other key matters for future elections, including the midterms.

Must-read from @jenrice.bsky.social on the rumors swirling in Austin: Nate Schatzline, a Christian nationalist ex-state lawmaker who denied the results of election 2020, could be appointed #Texas' new secretary of state, putting him in charge of election administration during election 2026.

Meet the Christian nationalist Trump ally and election denier who could run Texas elections

His elevation to election integrity advisor — and maybe even secretary of state — signals an alarming shift in how Texas handles elections.

democracydocket.com

NEW: The DOJ sent letters to top election officials in multiple states warning they could face criminal prosecution over possible noncitizen voting — an escalation in the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against after courts repeatedly rejected its effort to seize unredacted voter rolls.

Trump DOJ threatens election officials with criminal prosecution over noncitizen voting

Taken together, the letters mark a sharp new phase in Trump’s election agenda. After losing in court on voter data demands, DOJ is now warning election officials that ordinary list maintenance decisio...

democracydocket.com

NEW: A federal judge — a Trump appointee — has blocked the DOJ's demands for the identities and personal information of thousands of people who helped run the 2020 election in Georgia’s Fulton County, calling the request “unreasonable" and "staggering."

Trump-appointed judge rejects DOJ’s demands for personal info of 2020 Georgia election workers

The judge said the department's bid to force the county to divulge election workers’ names and home addresses was “staggering.”

democracydocket.com

The Trump administration is seeking to target local election workers while gearing up to release claims of foreign interference to bolster Trump’s effort to “nationalize” U.S. elections. And it’s using a group of loyalists and conspiracy peddlers from both inside and outside the government.

After legal losses, Trump admin forges ahead with bogus election fraud probes

The FBI is surging resources to its Georgia probe as the White House gears up to amplify Trump's false claims about past elections.

democracydocket.com

Republicans are crashing out over the Supreme Court’s ruling on birthright citizenship. But behind the meltdown is a desire to remake the Supreme Court to overturn established precedent. And it wouldn’t be the first time. @jaknutson.bsky.social explains. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Republicans want to remake Supreme Court to end birthright citizenship

“Imagine if one of the five justices who made a bad call today, if they left the Supreme Court," Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday.

democracydocket.com

Folks, we've got some bad news for you: The margin was actually razor-thin in the Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling today. That means this battle may only just be beginning. @jaknutson.bsky.social explains.

Despite Supreme Court ruling, the battle over birthright citizenship is just beginning

“While this outcome provides welcome relief, it shows how fragile even our most foundational constitutional guarantees have become,” one immigration expert said.

democracydocket.com

BREAKING: The Supreme Court struck down President Trump’s attempt to unilaterally deny citizenship to children born in the United States to foreign nationals, a plan that would have sharply altered who can vote in American elections.

Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s attempt to eliminate birthright citizenship

Trump’s executive order came as the opening salvo in his across-the-board attack on all forms of immigration. But it also had grave implications for voting.

democracydocket.com

Gotta do the meme again.

Democracy Docket@democracydocket.com · last mo.

NEW: Trump jumped on the opportunity to push the SAVE America Act after SCOTUS delivered a ruling upholding mail ballot grace periods. But even as the president escalated his pressure campaign, he appeared to admit the passage of the bill "probably is not going to happen."

BREAKING: The Supreme Court has upended nearly a century of legal precedent by formally endorsing President Trump’s dismissal of the last Democrat on the Federal Trade Commission. At the same time, the court rejected his attempts to remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook without cause.

Shattering decades of precedent, Supreme Court expands Trump’s dismissal powers

Monday's rulings amount to a dramatic restructuring of executive power and the role of most independent agencies.

democracydocket.com

BREAKING: In a big win for voters, the U.S. Supreme Court blessed grace periods for ballots mailed by Election Day, rejecting a GOP bid to restrict mail voting and preserving pro-voter laws in 14 states.

Supreme Court rejects GOP bid to throw out mail ballots received after Election Day, in win for voters

Read more here.

democracydocket.com

After ICE agents confronted a poll worker at an active voting site over an old social media post this week, @syracuse.com has now revealed that Homeland Security agents also sought out a Rochester man who sent an angry email to ex-ICE chief Todd Lyons.

Another ICE threat visit: How did agents track down this critic on his vacation?

The ICE agents who threatened a Syracuse poll worker for an Instagram post warned a Rochester man in an unsettling way.

syracuse.com

The poll worker confronted by ICE at a Syracuse voting location tells @democracydocket.com: “I literally just want all poll workers to feel safe… I’m kinda now even worried more about November.”

New York poll worker confronted by ICE speaks out: ‘I'm even worried more about November’

Paigelynne Gonyea, the Syracuse poll worker recently confronted by ICE: "This is me standing on business and defending our constitutional right of free speech.”

democracydocket.com

When a GOP county elections commissioner heard that ICE agents had confronted a poll worker over a social media post, he thought it was a hoax. He doesn't understand why they were there. “There was no emergency. They weren’t investigating an ongoing crime. There was no threat to public safety.”

Election officials express alarm after ICE confronts poll worker over social media post

“There was no emergency. They weren’t investigating an ongoing crime. There was no threat to public safety," one official told Democracy Docket.

democracydocket.com

Extremely alarming story: ICE agents entered a NY polling place during *active voting* (illegal), apparently to tell a poll worker — drumroll please — to delete an Instagram account where she shared a news report naming Renee Good's killer months ago.

ICE agents confront New York poll worker during voting, as state prosecutors review incident

“They knew I was a poll site worker and still came in."

democracydocket.com

"The court’s 6-to-3 decision, divided along ideological lines, clears a path for the potential deportation of 350,000 Haitians and 6,100 Syrians, and it is likely to have implications for T.P.S. holders from about a dozen other countries."

Supreme Court Expands Trump’s Power Over Immigration

nytimes.com

BREAKING: A federal judge in Massachusetts Thursday blocked federal agencies from implementing President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive order attacking mail voting before the midterm elections.

BREAKING: Judge blocks Trump order attacking mail voting, plan for national voter list

“The Constitution does not grant the President any specific powers over elections,” the judge wrote.

democracydocket.com

Someone's got to write a screenplay based on this about a rambunctious teenage friend group growing up in Seagate in the 1960s, but it's interspersed w/ them & their classmates as adults giving on-camera interviews. And later in the film it's revealed that one of them was an Epstein-esque figure.

Searching for Clues in Jeffrey Epstein’s Boyhood

nytimes.com

Frankly a baffling development: Affordability is issue #1 in the U.S. right now, but Trump wants to sabotage a housing bill to pressure the Senate to pass the atomically anti-voting SAVE America Act.

Trump threatens to sabotage housing bill to push ‘National Emergency’ SAVE America Act

Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Trump’s decision “doesn’t make any sense.”

democracydocket.com

Straight from the horse's mouth: If your state doesn't hand over voters' unredacted personal data, USPS won't let you vote by mail, the postmaster general says. This is part of a proposed rule stemming from Trump's anti-mail voting executive order.

Postmaster general says USPS won't deliver mail ballots if states don’t give Trump admin voter rolls

“You are going to make a decision that people cannot vote by mail. That’s unacceptable," one senator told the postmaster general.

democracydocket.com

President Trump said today that he directed the DOJ to probe California elections when early results showed Steve Hilton trailing in the recent governor primary. It's the clearest evidence yet of him weaponizing the DOJ to interfere in elections.

'Do me a favor': Trump says he directed DOJ to investigate California elections

He said he ordered the probes after early results showed his preferred candidate trailing in the state’s recent gubernatorial primary.

democracydocket.com

Every day I'm alarmed at how xenophobia and racism are being mainstreamed in American politics and society. In the latest, GOP lawmakers and Elon Musk attacked an immigrant judge for being an immigrant after she ruled against Trump's voter purge scheme.

‘Imported judges’: GOP lawmakers, Musk launch racist attack on judge who blocked Trump’s voter purge scheme

“They didn’t just import voters, they imported judges too,” posted Musk, a South African immigrant who spent $291 million to influence the 2024 election.

democracydocket.com