Several Democratic groups — including the Democratic National Committee — along with Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) on Monday sued the Trump administration over President Donald Trump’s executive order that calls for changes to the election system, including a requirement that people provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
The lawsuit, which also lists the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Governors Association as plaintiffs, alleges that Trump’s executive order “seeks to impose radical changes on how Americans register to vote, cast a ballot, and participate in our democracy — all of which threaten to disenfranchise lawful voters and none of which is legal.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment….
The U.S. Constitution does not assign the president any specific power to regulate elections, specifically designating the power to regulate the “time, place and manner” of elections to states, with a proviso that Congress can step in and override those state laws. Election experts said that Trump, through his executive order, was claiming power he does not have and that lawsuits over the measure were all but guaranteed, The Washington Post previously reported.
In their lawsuit, the Democrats stated that the order would force Trump’s “own design preferences be implemented on congressionally mandated voter registration forms, notwithstanding Congress’s clear contrary commands.”
They also alleged that Trump’s order “forces numerous federal agencies to reveal sensitive personal information about millions of voters” to the U.S. DOGE Service, which is run by Trump ally and billionaire Elon Musk. DOGE — which stands for the Department of Government Efficiency — is listed as a defendant in the suit, along with other agencies including the Justice Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Departments of Defense, Interior, Veterans Affairs, and State.
The Democrats in the suit accused Trump and the administration of attempting to wield federal dollars “as a cudgel to force States to do the President’s bidding to the detriment of their voters, threatening to deprive them of crucial grants to fund elections and law enforcement.”…