Newsom Vows Legal Battle After Supreme Court Backs Trump Election Integrity Order

Clear Facts

• Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to allow Trump administration’s election integrity executive order to proceed while litigation continues
• California Governor Gavin Newsom announced plans to file another lawsuit challenging the order’s restrictions on mail-in voting
• Trump’s order directs federal agencies to create citizenship-based voter lists and instructs USPS to deliver mail ballots only to verified eligible voters

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced plans to sue the Trump administration over its push to restrict mail-in voting after the Supreme Court allowed the administration to enforce challenged provisions of President Donald Trump’s executive order for election integrity while litigation continues. The announcement sets up the next phase of the legal fight after the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of the Trump administration Monday, lifting an injunction that had blocked the order in 23 states ahead of November’s midterm elections.

The Supreme Court stressed that its decision addressed the injunction rather than the ultimate legality of the order, leaving the door open to additional challenges. Newsom criticized the decision in a statement released by his office.

“The Supreme Court just let the Trump administration move ahead (for now) with its plan to disenfranchise voters across the country,” Newsom said.

“California will be suing AGAIN to block these Orwellian rules from being implemented.”

Newsom’s office also highlighted two election-related bills moving through the California Legislature that the governor says would protect the state’s elections from interference. According to the governor’s office, AB 282 would establish new felonies involving the seizure of ballots, election records or certified voting technology before election results are certified.

SB 259 would establish criminal penalties for interfering with the delivery or return of mail-in ballots, including a felony carrying up to four years in prison in certain cases. The governor’s office described the measures as an “Election Protection” package and said they build on election-related legislation Newsom signed earlier this summer.

The U.S. Postal Service and Department of Justice said they would move to implement the revised mail-ballot restrictions following Monday’s ruling. Trump’s executive order directs federal agencies to compile citizenship-based lists of eligible voters and directs the USPS to deliver mail-in ballots only to people appearing on approved lists.

In explaining its decision, the Supreme Court concluded that the challenged provision directing the Department of Homeland Security to create and distribute state citizenship lists imposed obligations on federal agencies rather than the states themselves. The court wrote:

“[It] directs the Secretary of Homeland Security to take appropriate action to create and distribute State Citizenship Lists. This provision is an internal directive from the President to a subordinate. It imposes no obligations on the States, so they ‘suffer no concrete harm from’ it, and without concrete harm, there is no standing.”

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented. The ruling represents a significant victory for election integrity advocates who have long argued that safeguards are necessary to ensure only eligible citizens participate in American elections.

The Trump administration has maintained that the executive order is designed to protect the integrity of federal elections and ensure compliance with existing citizenship requirements for voting. Critics, including Newsom, argue the measures could create barriers to legitimate voter participation.

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