Donald Trump’s effort to remake how elections are run in the United States is running into repeated legal defeat. Courts have blocked parts of his March executive order, rejected attempts to force states to hand over voter rolls, and shut down a revamped federal system aimed at checking voter eligibility.
The setbacks matter because Trump has made election policy a central part of his agenda, even as Congress remains stuck and judges keep reminding his administration that the Constitution gives him no special power over elections. The result is a widening gap between his promises and what federal agencies can actually do.
The Legal Streak Against Trump
District-level judges have ruled against some of Trump’s most important election actions over the past two weeks. U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani said the Constitution “does not grant the President any specific powers over elections” while blocking much of the March order that tried to give the U.S. Postal Service new authority over voting by mail.
In another ruling, Cathy Bissoon, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for Western Pennsylvania, said the administration’s “efforts have been rebuked by every court to consider them” when she blocked the Justice Department’s push for voter data from the state. Bissoon added in a footnote that five of the district judges ruling against these efforts were Trump appointees.
| Action by Trump Administration | Court Outcome | Notable Detail |
|---|---|---|
| March executive order on voting by mail | Blocked in part | Judge said the President has no specific constitutional power over elections |
| Justice Department request for voter data | Blocked | Judge said similar efforts had already been rejected in 10 other courts |
| Expanded SAVE database checks | Outlawed | Judge said the system trampled on privacy rights of American citizens |
| Maryland voting-records lawsuit | Dismissed | A Trump-nominated judge said an unredacted voter file is not compelled by federal law |
The administration also lost when Judge Stephanie Gallagher dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit against Maryland over voting records. Gallagher, whom Trump nominated in 2019, wrote that “the Court joins every court to have addressed this issue.”
What Trump Wanted To Change
Trump has pushed for tougher voting rules, including proof of citizenship for registration, photo identification for voting, an end to most voting by mail, and broader voter-roll purges. He also floated ideas that election officials fear could go even further, including seizing voting machines and deploying federal agents to polling places.
Those ideas have not advanced smoothly. The SAVE America Act is stalled in Congress and has triggered conflict with Republican lawmakers, while Trump’s legal theory that he could force sweeping changes through the courts has met repeated rejection.
The Bigger Political Fight
At the same time, Trump has still managed to shape parts of the election landscape. The Supreme Court’s Louisiana v. Callais ruling in April weakened the Voting Rights Act, and the court later rolled back campaign-finance restrictions on political parties in a move Trump celebrated as “A BIG WIN FOR REPUBLICANS.”
State governments have also begun adopting parts of his agenda. At least 10 states have voluntarily turned over the personal information of millions of voters to the Justice Department, and a report by Gréta Bedekovics and Devon Ombres found that at least 12 states have passed laws requiring documentary proof of citizenship or citizenship-verification checks since 2024.
David Becker of the Center for Election Innovation & Research said the administration is “losing literally every single case it’s involved in,” calling the pace of defeats unusually heavy for the Justice Department. A Justice Department spokesperson said the administration is still “devoting significant resources” to the fight and is focused on voter-roll maintenance and elections decided solely by American citizens.
The White House has tried to project calm, saying Trump is committed to accurate voter rolls and that existing laws give the Justice Department the authority it needs. But Trump has openly complained about the “tremendous loss in the Supreme Court” on late-arriving mail-in ballots and has pressed Congress to pass the SAVE America Act anyway.
With early voting for the midterms set to begin as soon as September in some states, time is running short for major changes. Congress remains gridlocked, the courts keep pushing back, and election officials are watching closely for any new attempt by Trump to intervene in ways that have not been tried before.
