Thursday, April 24

Judge halts Trump’s anti-voting executive order 

• A federal judge in Washington, D.C. blocked federal agencies from carrying out key parts of President Donald Trump’s sweeping executive order on elections.
  
  
• Among its many changes, Trump’s order directed the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) — an independent bipartisan agency — to change a federal voter registration form to require eligible voters to show proof of citizenship, which could potentially disenfranchise millions. If states don’t or can’t comply, Trump’s order directs the EAC to punish them by withholding federal funding.
  
  
• The judge today said EAC commissioners and other senior commission officials are barred from taking steps to add a proof of citizenship requirement to the form as mandated by Trump’s order. Marc and Paige Moskowitz delve into the ruling. 

Trump orders probe against key Democratic fundraising platform 

• Trump targeted the financial backbone of the Democratic Party today as part of a major escalation in his ongoing authoritarian effort to use the government to hamstring his political opponents.
  
  
• In a presidential memorandum, Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate allegations of straw donations and foreign contributions made through ActBlue, an online fundraising platform that coordinates and processes millions of donations each year for Democrats running for office at all levels of government.

Mississippi to ask SCOTUS to take case concerning ballot receipt deadlines

• Court filings revealed that Mississippi's secretary of state is set to ask the U.S. Supreme Court whether the state can continue to accept mail ballots that arrive after Election Day. A SCOTUS ruling banning late-arriving ballots nationwide could disenfranchise large numbers of voters, Marc and Paige explain in a new video. 

Lower courts stand up for the rule of law — now GOP wants to neuter them

• If “justice delayed is justice denied,” the lower courts are playing a crucial role in responding to the near-daily injustices from the Trump administration. Dozens of judges across the country appointed by many different presidents have ruled against Trump’s unlawful actions.
  
  
• But they’re barely keeping up with the tide of illegal orders, Democracy Docket contributor and Alliance for Justice interim co-president Keith Thirion writes. And now, both the conservative-majority Supreme Court and Republican lawmakers in Congress seem determined to slow them down by undermining their ability to issue nationwide injunctions.