'The president has no authority': States sue Trump admin over 'unlawful attempt' to enforce new standards on mail-in voting through use of federal lists and USPS rules

President Donald Trump is "unlawfully" trying to dictate however states tally elections successful usurpation of the U.S. Constitution by restricting elector eligibility and mail-in voting to lists of voters pre-authorized by the Trump administration, according to a national suit filed connected Friday.

In March 2025, the 45th and 47th president issued Executive Order 14248, titled: "Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections." The bid broadly seeks to reshape however elections are administered successful the state by, among different things, purporting to enforce a request that each voters beryllium their citizenship by mode of ceremonial documentation and by putting a halt to vote-by-mail systems that number ballots postmarked by, but received after, Election Day.

Last month, Trump issued yet different elections-focused enforcement bid titled: "Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity successful Federal Elections." The latest bid aims to steadfast up and formalize the administration's citizenship-and-documentation efforts by creating and enforcing the usage of approved elector lists, limiting mail-in voting based connected harmony with specified lists, and imposing record-keeping requirements connected states.

The plaintiffs — respective states led by California — accidental that Trump has "once again flouted" the "basic law principles" of national elections administered by the states with the caller enforcement order.

"The President's latest effort to interfere with the States' medication of their elections is arsenic unprecedented arsenic it is unconstitutional," the ailment begins. "Under our Constitution, the President has nary authorization to restrict elector eligibility oregon message voting to lists of voters pre-authorized by the national government. Plaintiff States bring this enactment to safeguard their law authorization to administer authorities and national elections."

The three-count suit is premised connected myriad law theories including intertwining violations of the separation of powers, the elections and electors clauses, commandeering and excess authority.

Under the applicable provisions of the enforcement order, the Trump medication directs the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), successful conjunction with migration and Social Security officials, to make a database of voters eligible to ballot by citizenship presumption per state.

The bid further directs the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to firmly bounds the usage of mail-in and absentee voting to its ain database – on with a lengthy bid of caller conditions connected vote-by-mail generated by USPS similar circumstantial ballot envelope, identification, and tracking standards.

Finally, the bid mandates a five-year play successful which states and localities "should" sphere "all records and materials — excluding ballots formed — evidencing elector information successful immoderate Federal predetermination (e.g., ballot envelopes, careless of carrier)."

To perceive the plaintiffs archer it, these statesmanlike demands are "contrary to the expressed volition of Congress" with respect to mail-in voting and magnitude to "unreasonable favoritism among users of the mails" successful usurpation of national law.

"Having failed to enact changes to predetermination medication done Congress, the President has resorted to unlawfully attempting to legislate by fiat," the filing goes on. "The [executive order] mandates that national agencies make their ain elector eligibility lists and imposes those lists connected the States done threats of prosecuting States and their elections officials"

From the complaint, astatine length:

The EO erects shadiness elector eligibility lists wrong the national authorities and uses threats of probe and prosecution to coerce States into disenfranchising voters missing from those lists. It besides straight interferes with message voting by mandating that the United States Postal Service garbage to present voted ballots unless the voters are connected USPS's precleared list, which is maintained extracurricular the power of the States who administer national elections. Finally, the EO purports to lengthen the existing play for elections officials to sphere elections records to facilitate threatened prosecutions, contradicting existing requirements successful authorities and national law.

"Plaintiff States volition beryllium harmed by the caller national inaugural to interfere with States' medication of message voting, including harm to their sovereignty and important costs and administrative burdens," the filing continues.

More Law&Crime coverage: 'The Constitution assigns nary authorization to the president': States triumph injunction arsenic justice swats down Trump effort to prohibition vote-by-mail 'to reconstruct the due equilibrium of power'

The states besides complains astir a conception of the bid which threatens a nonaccomplishment of national backing for "noncompliance," which they picture arsenic an effort to "to coerce States into disenfranchising voters missing from those lists."

The suit besides notes that the timing of the newly-proposed rules and regulations would fundamentally upend existing predetermination medication procedures wrong weeks of upcoming superior elections and months earlier this year's midterm wide election. The states accidental this is simply a "dangerously speedy pace" to effort and determination guardant with a wholesale overhaul of vote-by-mail systems that volition "sow disorder and chaos" and apt disenfranchise galore voters.

"Once again, President Trump is trying to rewrite the rules of our elections. But helium lacks the authorization to bash truthful — afloat stop," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said successful a press release announcing the litigation. "The U.S. Constitution intelligibly gives States the superior authorization implicit elections and gives zero authorization to the President. This latest enforcement bid is conscionable different unlawful effort to restrict voting, fueled by his fearfulness of losing the upcoming midterm elections and based connected wholly unfounded allegations of elector fraud."