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Federal Judge Blocks Trump DOJ Threats Against Election Workers Ahead of Midterms
Confirmed
In Short: A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Friday, halting the Trump administration's threats to election workers over suspected noncitizen ballots ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
The order came in response to letters sent by the Office of the Deputy Attorney General to election officials, demanding they preserve federal election records for 22 months under a decades-old federal law.
The Trump administration had been pressuring election officials to reject certain ballots and segregate others based on allegations of noncitizen voting, prompting concerns of unprecedented interference in the midterm elections.
Judge Trina Thompson's ruling forbids federal agencies from demanding that state and local officials remove specific registered voters from voter rolls or refuse them ballots based solely on the administration’s allegations.
The Center for American Progress warned that the Trump administration was executing a plan to subvert the 2026 midterm elections, aiming to entrench its power and continue its policy agenda without accountability.
The judge's order came as the Trump administration was ramping up efforts to shape the outcomes of the midterm elections, with President Trump announcing that his super PAC would now pay for a multimillion-dollar pro-Trump ad blitz.
The administration's actions were met with criticism from political scientists who study backsliding democracies around the world, who identified disrupting and controlling elections as a crucial tactic used by would-be authoritarians.
The Constitution gives no authority to presidents to control elections; instead, it gives states the primary power—with Congress as a backstop—to conduct free and fair elections.
The ruling underscores the importance of independent and trustworthy media outlets in safeguarding elections and ensuring that voters' will is accurately reflected.
The Trump administration's efforts to subvert the 2026 midterm elections are part of a broader strategy to entrench its power and escape accountability, according to the Center for American Progress.
What this adds
The judge's order is the latest in a series of legal challenges to the Trump administration's efforts to interfere with the electoral process.
The ruling highlights the ongoing tension between federal and state authority in election administration and the need for clear legal boundaries to protect the integrity of elections.
Background
A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Friday, halting the Trump administration's threats to election workers over suspected noncitizen ballots.
A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Friday, halting the Trump administration's threats to election workers over suspected noncitizen ballots.
What's confirmed
- The order came in response to letters sent by the Office of the Deputy Attorney General to election officials, demanding they preserve federal election records for 22 months under a decades-old federal law.
- The Trump administration had been pressuring election officials to reject certain ballots and segregate others based on allegations of noncitizen voting, prompting concerns of unprecedented interference in the midterm elections.
- Judge Trina Thompson's ruling forbids federal agencies from demanding that state and local officials remove specific registered voters from voter rolls or refuse them ballots based solely on the administration’s allegations.
- The Center for American Progress warned that the Trump administration was executing a plan to subvert the 2026 midterm elections, aiming to entrench its power and continue its policy agenda without accountability.
- The judge's order came as the Trump administration was ramping up efforts to shape the outcomes of the midterm elections, with President Trump announcing that his super PAC would now pay for a multimillion-dollar pro-Trump ad blitz.
- The administration's actions were met with criticism from political scientists who study backsliding democracies around the world, who identified disrupting and controlling elections as a crucial tactic used by would-be authoritarians.
- The Constitution gives no authority to presidents to control elections; instead, it gives states the primary power—with Congress as a backstop—to conduct free and fair elections.
- The ruling underscores the importance of independent and trustworthy media outlets in safeguarding elections and ensuring that voters' will is accurately reflected.
- The Trump administration's efforts to subvert the 2026 midterm elections are part of a broader strategy to entrench its power and escape accountability, according to the Center for American Progress.
What's still developing
- A federal judge barred the Trump administration from threatening election workers with prosecution over suspected noncitizen ballots, citing likely voting rights violations days before the midterms.
- The Justice Department has issued federal grand jury subpoenas to California election officials as part of a criminal investigation into alleged noncitizen voting, ordering three Los Angeles County employees to testify one day after the November 3 midterm elections.
- When announcing it, Trump said he would personally decide who is paid.
- As U.S. District Judge David Carter wrote earlier this week, California gets to administer its own elections and decide how it wants to confirm citizenship status.
- Multiple state election offices confirmed to Votebeat that they received identical letters dated Oct. 29 and signed by acting Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter.
- U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a maternal health event in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 11, 2026.
- The lawsuit which says playing the song amounts to an "unauthorised public performance" comes six years after the singer sued a different Trump organisation for playing the same song.
- During Trump's first White House term, Democrats rode a blue wave to take back the House majority by flipping 41 seats.
- Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday announced he is sending members home from Washington early for their seven-week campaigning recess ahead of the midterm elections, a move that will stave off a vote on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
- President Donald Trump, in a campaign rally Monday night in Kansas ahead of next month’s midterm elections, said USDA would provide $8 billion in relief to farmers squeezed by soaring diesel prices.
- Indian authorities on Friday detained Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the satirical youth movement "Cockroach Janta Party", ahead of a new protest in New Delhi, live images from the group showed.
- Thousands of supporters are making their way into the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach ahead of President Donald Trump’s rally Friday evening.