In yet another blatant act of judicial overreach from the activist bench, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., has moved to block President Donald Trump’s commonsense effort to protect American elections by requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote.
The ruling — handed down by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly — permanently prohibits the U.S. Election Assistance Commission from adding a citizenship verification requirement to federal voter registration forms. In other words, under this decision, non-citizens can continue to receive and complete voter registration forms without ever proving they are legally allowed to vote.
This marks yet another move from a left-leaning judiciary determined to undermine the Trump Administration’s push for election integrity. It’s the same system that weaponized courts against Trump’s policies, his campaign, and even his supporters — and now it’s standing in the way of something as basic as ensuring only American citizens cast ballots in American elections.
President Trump has made voter integrity a top priority since returning to the White House. Earlier this year, he issued an executive order directing the Election Assistance Commission to require all individuals registering to vote to provide a valid government-issued form of proof of U.S. citizenship. The measure was part of a broader strategy to safeguard federal elections and close loopholes exploited by non-citizens — including illegal immigrants — who have been quietly added to voter rolls through welfare offices and other state agencies.
At the time, Trump warned of widespread abuse in a fiery post on Truth Social:
> “Welfare offices and other agencies in 49 U.S. states are providing voter registration forms to migrants without requiring proof of citizenship,” he wrote. “This is terrible, and the reason they want millions of people, many of them criminals, to pour into our country. They are using government agencies as campaign factories for ‘get out the illegal vote.’ Democrats have no shame. We must stop this in the courts immediately!”
The president’s order also directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to work with state officials to share information on potential election fraud and ensure compliance with federal election laws. But according to Judge Kollar-Kotelly, such an effort is “unconstitutional.”
In her ruling, she claimed the president “lacks the authority” to make such changes and that the Constitution gives election regulation powers to Congress and the states — as if the federal government doesn’t already administer major components of national elections. “Because our Constitution assigns responsibility for election regulation to the States and to Congress,” the judge wrote, “this Court holds that the President lacks the authority to direct such changes.”
The White House fired back immediately. Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson blasted the ruling as another example of Democrats fighting against basic election security. “President Trump has exercised his lawful authority to ensure only American citizens are casting ballots in American elections,” Jackson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “This is so commonsense that only the Democrat Party would file a lawsuit against it. We expect to be vindicated by a higher court.”
Republicans and election integrity advocates say this ruling is part of a larger pattern — leftist judges, activist lawyers, and the Democratic Party working in concert to weaken safeguards and open the door to illegal voting.
Once again, the so-called “defenders of democracy” are proving they only care about democracy when it benefits them. President Trump’s fight to secure America’s elections is far from over — and this ruling all but guarantees the next battle will be fought at the Supreme Court.
