Obama-Appointed Judge Blocks Trump’s Citizenship Proof Rule for Voter Registration
A federal judge in Boston has permanently blocked the Trump administration from moving ahead with most of an executive order aimed at tightening federal election rules. That includes the part that would have required documentary proof of citizenship when people register to vote.
U.S. District Judge Denise Casper, who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, said the Constitution “does not grant the President any specific powers over elections.” Her ruling leans on a straightforward point: states and Congress have the main authority to set election rules, not the White House.
The Justice Department is expected to appeal. The case centers on Executive Order 14248, signed by Trump in March 2025 and titled Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections. In the order, Trump argued that “Free, fair, and honest elections unmarred by fraud, errors, or suspicion are fundamental to maintaining our constitutional Republic. The right of American citizens to have their votes properly counted and tabulated, without illegal dilution, is vital to determining the rightful winner of an election,”
The order also said, “Under the Constitution, State governments must safeguard American elections in compliance with Federal laws that protect Americans’ voting rights and guard against dilution by illegal voting, discrimination, fraud, and other forms of malfeasance and error. Yet the United States has not adequately enforced Federal election requirements that, for example, prohibit States from counting ballots received after Election Day or prohibit non-citizens from registering to vote,”
Trump has also been pushing Congress to go further with the SAVE America Act. That bill would require a valid ID before registering for a federal election, proof of citizenship, and no mail-in ballots. Right now, it is stalled in the Senate.
On Wednesday, Trump went to Capitol Hill for a Senate lunch to keep the pressure on lawmakers and talk through the bill. The move showed that, even with the court ruling, the fight over voter ID and citizenship checks is not going away anytime soon.
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