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WASHINGTON (CN) — Top Democratic officials sued the Trump administration Monday night, challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order that would impose citizenship requirements to register to vote and open voter rolls to the Department of Government Efficiency.
The Democratic National Committee, joined by the Democratic Governors Association, the Senate and House campaign committees, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
“In the United States of America, the president does not get to dictate the rules of our elections,” the Democrats wrote. “The 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 Democrats argue that the order would allow Trump to impose his own “design preferences” on congressionally mandated voter registration forms, forces federal agencies to reveal sensitive personal information to DOGE, and tramples on the independence of the Election Assistance Commission.
Further, the order “wields federal dollars as a cudgel” to force compliance among the states, “threatening to deprive them of crucial grants to fund elections and law enforcement,” the Democrats say.
Trump’s March 25 order, “Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections,” requires the Election Assistance Commission to add proof of citizenship as a requirement to its national mail voter registration form, a requirement normally left up to the states.
Further, the order instructs Attorney General Pam Bondi to coordinate with state attorneys general to prosecute noncitizens “unlawfully registered to vote or casting votes.”
Trump also aims to prevent states from counting absentee or mail-in ballots received after Election Day, which would upend the processes of several states, such as Alabama, Idaho, Illinois, Mississippi, New Hampshire, and North Dakota, among others, who only begin counting such ballots after polls close on Election Day.
“Although the order extensively reflects the president’s personal grievances, conspiratorial beliefs, and election denialism, nowhere does it (nor could it) identify any legal authority he poses to impose such sweeping changes upon how Americans vote,” the Democrats say. “The reason why is clear: the president possesses no such authority.”
The lawsuit comes as Trump indicated over the weekend that he is considering an attempt to serve a third term as president, despite the explicit two-term limit set by the 22nd Amendment.
“I’m not joking,” Trump said, in a Sunday interview with NBC News, when asked to clarify comments speculating on the possibility.
Legal scholars and journalists have theorized as to potential methods Trump could employ to maintain his seat in the Oval Office: generate a movement to repeal the 22nd Amendment; run for vice president and ascend to the presidency; dare the Supreme Court to stop another campaign; or simply refuse to leave on Jan. 20, 2029.
The plan utilized the doubt Trump spread about mail-in voting to allow Republicans like Arizona Representative Paul Gosar and Texas Senator Ted Cruz to challenge the election results during the vote certification, then introduce a slate of false electors from their states. After a certain amount of controversy, then-Vice President Mike Pence was expected to suspend the proceedings and adopt the alternate slate.
The effort was ultimately upended by the attack on the U.S. Capitol and further blocked when Congress passed the Electoral Count Act in 2022 to prevent any similar attempt.
DNC Chair Ken Martin issued a joint statement with fellow chairs Laura Kelly, Kirsten Gillibrand and Suzan DelBene, warning that Trump’s order would have unintended consequences for military members serving overseas and married women who change their last names.
“Trump and DOGE are doing this as an attempt to rationalize their repeatedly debunked conspiracy theories and set the groundwork to throw out legal votes and ignore election outcomes they do not like,” Marin said. “It’s anti-American and Democrats are using every tool at our disposal — including taking Trump to court — to stop this illegal overreach that undermines our democracy.”
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