A federal judge in Massachusetts on Wednesday blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order requiring voters to show documentary proof of citizenship to register, ruling that the order exceeded presidential authority over elections.
U.S. District Judge Denise Casper in Boston ruled that the order was unconstitutional, writing that the Constitution “does not grant the President any specific powers over elections.” States and local jurisdictions largely set rules for elections, and Congress has authority to pass laws regulating elections, she said.
Trump’s executive order would have required voters to show passports, birth certificates, or other documentation when registering to vote or changing their registration. Casper had previously temporarily blocked the 2025 executive order after Democratic attorneys general brought a lawsuit against it, one of dozens of lawsuits Democratic state attorneys general have filed against the Trump administration in his second term. None of the order’s provisions had gone into effect.
Congress has been considering a similar proof-of-citizenship requirement as part of the Save America Act, which has not yet received approval in both chambers despite Trump’s demands. Trump has said he will not sign any legislation until Congress passes the Save America Act. On Wednesday, he canceled plans to sign a bipartisan housing bill, saying he wanted the Save America Act on his desk first.
The ruling is the latest in a series of court challenges to Trump’s efforts to assert federal control over elections. As MSI previously reported, a federal judge in January blocked a separate Trump elections order in a suit brought by Washington and Oregon. Another federal judge in May refused to block a Trump executive order limiting mail voting, ruling the challenge was premature.
Trump announced another executive order on voting in 2026 that attempted to create a federal list of confirmed citizens who can vote in each state and would curtail mail voting. That order faces lawsuits, although a federal judge declined to stop the measure because it was premature.
The U.S. Postal Service has issued a proposed rule that would require states to hand over lists of voters who requested mail-in ballots and barcodes associated with their ballots to the postal service. U.S. Postmaster General David Steiner said Wednesday that the postal service would not deliver mailed ballots in states that refused to turn over their lists, which would massively hinder voting access.
A letter to the postal service from all 47 Democratic senators warned that such a list would be ripe for abuse and likely contain inaccuracies that would prevent eligible voters from casting ballots. “This proposed rule risks disenfranchising millions of voters,” the senators wrote. “We again insist that you follow the law, refuse to implement President Trump’s executive order, and withdraw this presidentially-directed proposed rule.”