A federal judge in Washington on Friday permanently blocked key provisions of President Donald Trump's executive order on election administration, ruling that the Constitution does not allow a president to unilaterally impose citizenship verification requirements on federal voters.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, an appointee of President Bill Clinton, issued a 118-page decision striking down two central elements of Trump's March 2025 executive order titled Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections. The ruling prevents federal agencies and the Department of Defense from requiring documentary proof of citizenship as a condition of voter registration.
"Put simply, our Constitution does not allow the President to impose unilateral changes to federal election procedures," Judge Kollar-Kotelly wrote, grounding her decision squarely in the separation of powers doctrine that assigns election regulation to Congress and the states.
The judge emphasized that voting occupies a unique constitutional status. "Upholding our Constitution's separation of powers in the election context is a matter of substantial importance," she wrote, adding that the Supreme Court has long recognized voting as a "fundamental political right" upon which all other rights depend. "Our Constitution's careful allocation of power over election regulation helps to preserve that bedrock right," Kollar-Kotelly stated.
Friday's ruling adds to a growing body of judicial resistance to Trump's election agenda. At least three federal judges have now blocked parts of the March executive order, all citing similar constitutional limits on presidential authority.
In January, U.S. District Judge John Chun in Seattle barred enforcement of citizenship verification requirements against Washington and Oregon, states that conduct most elections by mail. That decision likewise concluded that the Constitution gives Congress and the states-not the White House-control over election procedures.
Kollar-Kotelly herself had previously halted a separate effort by the administration to require proof of citizenship on the federal voter registration form, reinforcing a consistent judicial message that the president lacks authority in this domain.
The White House said it would appeal. "Ensuring only citizens vote in our elections is a commonsense measure that everyone should be able to support," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said Friday. "This is not the final say on the matter and the administration looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue."
Legal scholars said the administration faces steep odds. Derek Clinger, a senior staff attorney at the University of Wisconsin Law School's State Democracy Research Initiative, said, "The court is very clear that the Constitution gives no authority to the president to do any of these things, and that federal law doesn't either."
Justin Levitt, an election law professor at Loyola Marymount University, framed the broader effort as symbolic as much as legal, describing it as an attempt to "project power that he doesn't have," with the effect of undermining public confidence regardless of whether the rules ultimately change.
