What happened
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly Thursday blocked a significant portion of an executive order President Donald Trump signed to change how U.S. elections are run, ruling that the Constitution "entrusts Congress and the states — not the president — with the authority to regulate federal elections." Her decision temporarily bars federal officials from requiring Americans to prove they are citizens to register to vote.
Who said what
A proof-of-citizenship requirement "is contrary to the manifest will of Congress," Kollar-Kotelly said in her 120-page ruling, and government lawyers provided "almost no defense of the president’s order on the merits." She declined to block the part of Trump's order aiming to force states to count only absentee and mail-in ballots that arrive by Election Day, saying that challenge was better dealt with in a separate lawsuit before a different judge.
Kollar-Kotelly's ruling was one of a "rapid-fire series of court losses" for Trump this week on "immigration, elections and its crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion programs in schools," The Associated Press said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
The ruling "diminishes Trump's chances" of successfully changing voting forms ahead of next year's midterm elections, which will "determine whether Republicans maintain narrow control of Congress," said The Washington Post. While the House recently passed legislation conforming to Trump's executive order, it's "unclear if the Senate will act on it."
-
DHS preps for major ICE expansion, rankling local law enforcementIN THE SPOTLIGHT As the Trump administration positions ICE as the primary federal police force, its recruitment efforts have been met with a less-than-enthusiastic response
-
Trump officials reinstating 2 Confederate monumentsSpeed Read The administration has plans to 'restore Confederate names and symbols' discarded in the wake of George Floyd's 2020 murder
-
Trump nominates Powell critic for vacant Fed seatspeed read Stephen Miran, the chair of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers and a fellow critic of Fed chair Jerome Powell, has been nominated to fill a seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
-
JD Vance rises as MAGA heir apparentIN THE SPOTLIGHT The vice president is taking an increasingly proactive role in a MAGA movement roiled by scandal and anxious about a post-Trump future
-
Congress should 'step in' to block Trump's White House ballroom makeoverInstant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
ICE scraps age limits amid hiring pushSpeed Read Anyone 18 or older can now apply to be an ICE agent
-
Trump's global tariffs take effect, with new additionsSpeed Read Tariffs on more than 90 US trading partners went into effect, escalating the global trade war
-
House committee subpoenas Epstein filesSpeed Read The House Oversight Committee has issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for its Jeffrey Epstein files with an Aug. 19 deadline
