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A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration cannot enforce an executive order requiring documented proof of U.S. citizenship on federal voter registration forms, a move the administration defends as a legal effort to protect the integrity of elections.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington, D.C., ruled the requirement unconstitutional on Friday, writing that the president “does not have the authority to order such changes.”
“The first question posed in these consolidated cases is whether the President, acting unilaterally, can order changes in federal election procedures,” Kollar-Kotelly wrote in her opinion.
“Because our Constitution assigns responsibility for regulating elections to the States and Congress, this Court finds that the President does not have the authority to order such changes.”
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President Donald Trump leaves Marine One after arriving on the South Lawn of the White House July 29, 2025, in Washington. A federal judge ruled Friday that the Trump administration cannot enforce an executive order requiring documented proof of U.S. citizenship on federal voter registration forms. (Julia Démarée Nikhinson/AP)
However, a White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital that Trump acted within his legal powers.
“President Trump has exercised his legal authority to ensure that only U.S. citizens vote in the U.S. election,” White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital in an email. “It makes so much sense that only the Democratic Party could take legal action against this.
“We hope to be vindicated by a higher court.”
The judge sided with the plaintiffs — including the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the Democratic National Committee and the League of Women Voters Education Fund — arguing that the Constitution “assigns no direct role to the president in either area.”
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The voting booths are shown here. In March, President Trump signed an executive order requiring anyone registering to vote to provide government-issued proof of U.S. citizenship. (Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images)
The ruling says the U.S. Election Assistance Commission is permanently barred from adding that requirement to the federal voter form, according to the Associated Press.
The trial will continue while the judge considers other parts of Trump’s order, according to the Associated Press.
In March, President Trump signed an executive order requiring anyone registering to vote to provide government-issued proof of U.S. citizenship.
The order also directed the attorney general to enter into information-sharing agreements with state election officials to identify instances of voter fraud or other violations of election law and conditioned federal election-related funds on states’ compliance with federal election integrity measures.
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“I Voted” stickers are pictured at a polling station. The trial will continue while the judge considers other parts of Trump’s order, according to the Associated Press. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“We will take further action in the coming weeks,” Trump said just before signing the order. “We believe we will achieve fair elections.”
Kollar-Kotelly had already issued a preliminary injunction in April, and another federal judge blocked the same March 25 order in June after a separate challenge filed by Democratic state attorneys general, the Associated Press reported.
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The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Louis Casiano, Shannon Bream and Bill Mears of Fox News contributed to this report.
