This Time Next Year

This Week in Democracy

• Elections were held in more than 30 states, with some places setting turnout records for state and local races in off-year elections.

  In Maine, voters rejected a ballot measure that would have put restrictions on absentee ballots and limited the availability of ballot drop boxes. In Texas, voters approved an amendment to the state constitution clarifying that voters must be U.S. citizens. (Federal law already requires this.)

  And in New Jersey, Election Denier Jack Ciattarelli lost the race for governor.

• During a hearing, a federal judge in Virginia questioned the Justice Department’s handling of evidence in the criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey. The judge said that prosecutors were taking an “indict first, investigate second” approach to the case.

  Last month, a group of democracy experts represented by States United filed a brief in the case, arguing that the political motivations behind prosecuting Comey threaten the rule of law and urging the court to dismiss the charges.

  ➡️ READ: More about the brief

• A federal judge in Rhode Island ordered the Trump administration to fully restore funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The judge first ordered the administration to fund the program last week, but the administration “did not comply” with the order, the judge said. The administration is appealing.

  The judge said that President Trump indicated “intent to defy a court order” by writing on social media that his administration wouldn’t fund the program until the government shutdown was over.

  ➡️ READ: Americans Continue to Agree: The President Should Respect Court Orders

• The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the cases against Trump’s tariffs, including the one brought by Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield and 11 other state attorneys general. According to reports, a majority of justices seemed skeptical of the legal basis the president used to impose tariffs.

  ➡️ READ: Sharing the Facts About the Limits of Presidential Power on Tariffs

State of the States

In D.C., a federal judge blocked part of President Trump’s elections-focused executive order that directed the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to require voters to prove their citizenship with additional documents to register to vote.

The judge ruled that the Constitution delegates the power to regulate elections to states and Congress, not the president. “[T]he President lacks the authority to direct such changes,” she wrote.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also said that the administration is working on a second executive order on elections, while once again raising baseless claims of election fraud.

In Georgia, Fulton County officials received a request from U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon for records from the 2020 presidential election. (Dhillon served as a legal advisor to Trump’s 2020 campaign and spread conspiracy theories about the 2020 election after Trump’s loss.)

Fulton County officials said they have no plans to turn over the records. “I’m just still baffled as to why this fixation on the 2020 elections,” said Robb Pitts, the chairman of the Fulton County Commission. “The 2020 elections are over and done with. They’ve been reviewed, they’ve been audited, they’ve been scrutinized. They’ve been looked at from top to bottom. We had a clean bill of health.”

In Oregon, a federal judge extended orders blocking the deployment of National Guard troops in the state. Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield called the ruling “a step toward truth and accountability.”

“From the beginning, this case has been about making sure the facts—not the President’s political whims—guide how the law is applied,” Rayfield said.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek said the ruling was “another affirmation of our democracy and the right to govern ourselves.”