Voter List Order Halted
Federal Judge Halts Trump Executive Order to Create National Voter List Before Midterms
A federal judge halted President Trump's executive order seeking to build a federal voter list and restrict mail ballot delivery on June 25, 2026 — a ruling that protects state control over elections through the November midterms. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston sided with a coalition of 24 states and Washington D.C., declaring key parts of the order "legally void" in a 37-page ruling, according to Associated Press.
The same day brought a separate blow to immigrant communities. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to allow the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status for roughly 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians — a decision that could ripple out to nearly 1.3 million people from 17 countries, NPR reported.
Judge Rules Trump Lacks Any Power Over Elections
Judge Talwani's ruling struck at the heart of Trump's March 2026 Executive Order 14399. That order directed the Department of Homeland Security to build federal voter lists and told the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to "vetted" individuals. Talwani wrote plainly: "The Constitution does not grant the president any specific powers over elections," according to Maryland Daily Record.
The 24-state coalition argued the president was trying to "choose his own voters" by using the postal service as a gatekeeper for ballots. Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell said Trump "may wish he had unlimited power," but the Constitution gives election authority to the states, Fall River Reporter noted. The White House said it is "confident" it will win on appeal.
A Second Voter Order Already Permanently Blocked
The June 25 ruling was not the first judicial setback for Trump's election overhaul. Just one day earlier, on June 24, a separate federal judge permanently blocked Trump's earlier March 2025 order — Executive Order 14248 — which required voters to show documentary proof of citizenship to register. That judge converted a preliminary block into a full permanent ban, PBS reported.
The Brookings Institution found that mail voting fraud occurs at a rate of roughly 0.000043% — effectively negligible. Legal experts argue the orders were less about stopping fraud and more about "undermining confidence in the electoral system." The administration pushed back hard, with DHS General Counsel James Percival calling Judge Talwani's ruling "judicial sabotage" on social media.
Supreme Court Strips TPS Protections From Haitians and Syrians
Hours before the voter list ruling, the Supreme Court delivered a major win for the Trump administration on immigration. In a 6-3 decision in Mullin v. Doe, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that the government has full discretion to end Temporary Protected Status without judicial review. The ruling directly strips work permits and deportation protection from about 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians, according to The Marshall Project.
Advocacy groups warn the ruling "clears the way for the president to transform hundreds of thousands of people into undocumented immigrants overnight." The economic stakes are high: TPS holders contribute an estimated $29 billion to U.S. GDP each year and generate $8 billion in tax revenue, according to The Guardian. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the decision a "reckless rubber-stamp."
Vance Invokes Nixon at Presidential Library
As the rulings landed, Vice President JD Vance traveled to the Richard Nixon Presidential Library to defend the administration. He drew a direct comparison between Nixon's Watergate scandal and the legal battles facing Trump, arguing both presidents were targeted by "deep state" forces. "If Watergate happened tomorrow, it would be like a 12-hour news story," Vance said, per Associated Press.
The speech framed judicial blocks as political warfare rather than constitutional checks. The remarks came on a day when two separate courts ruled against Trump's executive orders — one on elections and one already made permanent on voter registration — signaling a mounting legal battle heading into the 2026 midterm cycle, Votebeat reported.
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