At issue is a March 2025 order signed by Trump titled “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” which had directed the federal Election Assistance Commission to ensure that proof-of-citizenship requirements were implemented in national mail voter registration applications.
It also mandated that the attorney general penalize states that count mail-in ballots received after Election Day.
“States fail adequately to vet voters’ citizenship, and, in recent years, the Department of Justice has failed to prioritize and devote sufficient resources for enforcement of these provisions,” said the order, in part, providing the Trump administration’s rationale on why the measure is needed. “Even worse, the prior administration actively prevented States from removing aliens from their voter lists.”
After facing setbacks on a proof-of-citizen requirement by executive order, Trump has said he wants legislation passed in the Republican-controlled Congress to create such a mandate. The SAVE America Act, sometimes called the SAVE Act, has passed the House but has stalled in the Senate, leading Trump to advocate for eliminating the filibuster that is blocking the legislation.
Earlier on Wednesday, he canceled the expected signing of a bipartisan housing bill, writing on Truth Social that he won’t sign the bill until Congress passes the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship as a requirement for voting in federal elections.
“Today’s Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency,” the president wrote in his post, which came before Casper issued her ruling.
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