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Browse major news stories and see what officials have said.

Sep 28, 2026· Updated

DHS Told Four States It Found 250,000 Noncitizens on Their Voter Rolls — On a Recorded Call, Its Own Staff Called the Nevada Number "the Ceiling," and the Confirmed Count Nevada Got Was 185

In July 2026, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin sent letters to the secretaries of state of California, Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania saying DHS had identified more than 250,000 noncitizens on their voter rolls, and warned officials who did not act that they faced loss of federal election aid, fines and possible prison time. In August, on a call with Nevada election officials that was recorded and later obtained by CNN, DHS staff conceded the state-level figures had not been individually vetted — a USCIS fraud-division official called Nevada's 15,903 "the ceiling" — and a day later the department handed Nevada a list of just 185 registrants it said it was confident were noncitizens, with more than 14,000 cases unresolved. Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, a Democrat, said his office "will not risk disenfranchising eligible voters" and called the federal effort unsophisticated and dangerous. DHS election-integrity lead Heather Honey told the state the department was "an open book." The reporting lands 10 weeks before the midterms, with DHS pressing states to purge voters on data it has not shown them.

“We write to warn you against continued activities at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that seek to undermine the Constitutional authority of both Congress and states to administer elections and defy the directions of federal courts. … The 2026 midterm elections are already underway. [From the letter to Mullin that Fetterman signed with 33 other senators.]”
John Fetterman (D-PA) · Sep 28, 2026

Sep 27, 2026· Updated

The Missouri Supreme Court Unanimously Pulls the Trump-Backed Congressional Map Out of the November Election and Hands It to the Voters — After It Had Already Been Used in the August Primary, and Nine Weeks Before the Midterms

On September 3, 2026 the Missouri Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the congressional map Republicans passed in a 2025 special session at President Trump's urging cannot be used in the November midterms, and that Missourians will instead vote on whether to keep or reject it. Writing for the court, Judge Ginger K. Gooch held that "the referendum petition was legal, sufficient, and timely, and the secretary incorrectly concluded otherwise," and that the map "did not go into effect and will not go into effect unless and until approved by the voters." The 2022 map drawn after the 2020 census stays in force for the general election. The map was drawn to break up Rep. Emanuel Cleaver's 5th District — splitting Kansas City across three districts — and was expected to net Republicans one House seat. Opponents organized by People Not Politicians gathered more than 300,000 signatures for a veto referendum in December. Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins waited until primary election day in August to reject the petition, on the theory that the referendum process does not reach congressional redistricting. The court rejected that reading. The ruling is, on the Republican side's own account, without precedent: no court had previously pulled a congressional map after a primary had already been run under it and before the general election. Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said she would seek immediate relief from the U.S. Supreme Court and called the decision a constitutional crisis; Gov. Mike Kehoe and Hoskins issued statements attacking the court; state Sen. Rick Brattin called the majority "liberal activist." Trump posted that it was a "Dark Day for 'Justice' in Missouri." Cleaver and Rep. Wesley Bell called it a win for voters.

“The Supreme Court of the United States will just not let Missouri have an Election Victory. They continuously, three times now, overrule Judges who came to the correct decisions. Thank you to the Governor, and all of the Great People of Missouri, who are fighting so hard for Fairness and Election Security. Such tremendous Spirit and Love of our Country. I won Missouri BIG, all three times, and I couldn't be more proud of doing so. A great place — I love you all!”
Donald Trump (R-FL) · Sep 27, 2026

Sep 24, 2026· Updated

The Justice Department Says It Will Send a Record ~1,000 Monitors to the Midterm Polls — and a Senator Asks the Pentagon to Put in Writing That It Will Not Send Troops or Seize Ballots

Two announcements eleven weeks before the November 2026 midterms put the question of federal presence at American polling places back in front of Congress. On Monday, August 17, 2026, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who runs the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, told Bloomberg Law that the department would deploy roughly 1,000 election monitors in November — "probably going to be a historic number for a Republican administration." Dhillon said the monitors would observe rather than intervene, would be trained on the same materials used by previous administrations, and would watch for language-access and disability-access barriers as well as suspected fraud. The number is many times what the department has typically fielded, and it lands as President Trump repeatedly predicts Democrats will "cheat" to retake Congress and after his call for Republicans to "nationalize" elections. The next day, Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), a former CIA analyst and Pentagon official, wrote to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine asking them to confirm in writing that the Defense Department "will not send Federal troops to the polls or to seize election materials of any kind." She pointed to Trump's 2020-era consideration of using the military to seize voting machines, his National Guard deployments to cities over Democratic governors' objections, and the 2025 deployment of active-duty Marines to Los Angeles. The Pentagon said it would respond through normal congressional correspondence channels; the Joint Chiefs did not comment. Hegseth, asked a version of the same question at an April 2026 hearing, called it a "gotcha hypothetical" but said he had never been ordered to do anything illegal and would not follow such an order. Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee had earlier blocked a Democratic amendment to strengthen the existing statutory bar on federal troops at polling places. Democrats had already gone to the department about the monitors: on August 3, 2026, Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine led a ten-senator letter pressing DOJ to confirm the program would stay within its statutory limits and would not target jurisdictions on partisan lines. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, whose state saw monitors during the summer primary, has filed public records requests seeking the factual basis for the deployments.

“We are taking strong, joint legal action to block Donald Trump's threats to deploy federal agents, including ICE and FBI agents, to polling places this November. Sending armed federal agents into American neighborhoods to intimidate voters is not only wrong – it's illegal and would mark a new and extremely dangerous escalation of this administration's disregard for the rule of law and repeated attempts to rig the midterms. … Federal law explicitly forbids voter intimidation and stationing armed federal agents at polling places. Our case is clear, and we're confident we'll defeat Trump in court yet again.”
Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) · Sep 24, 2026

Sep 23, 2026· Updated

Trump Demands the Senate Cancel Its August Recess Over the SAVE America Act, Splitting Republicans and Drawing a Rebuff From Thune

President Trump demanded in late July 2026 that the Senate stay in session through its scheduled August recess until it passes the SAVE America Act — his top legislative priority, which would ban mail-in ballots and require identification and proof of citizenship to vote — or else abolish the legislative filibuster. On July 26, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) publicly objected to any motion to recess until the bill passed, and Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL), Ashley Moody (R-FL), Jim Banks (R-IN) and Katie Britt (R-AL) joined the push over the following days. Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) responded coolly, noting the bill had already failed on the floor multiple times and asking supporters to show him a path to an outcome; he separately rebuffed Trump's calls to eliminate the filibuster, pointing out that Republicans hold only a 53-47 majority and lack the votes for either the bill or a rules change. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), who supports the underlying bill, opposed canceling the recess, saying she did not see a route to 60 votes. Trump said he had not "even thought" about replacing Thune as leader but said Thune had "got to get his job done." The House had already begun its August recess.

“Let's make it easy to vote and let's make it hard to cheat. [Lee said on the Senate floor as he asked unanimous consent to pass the SAVE America Act.]”
Mike Lee (R-UT) · Sep 23, 2026

Seven Weeks Before the Midterms, California Makes It a Felony to Seize Ballots or Block a Mail Ballot's Delivery — Newsom Signs Thirteen Bills Saying Trump "Won't Stop Until He Can Exert Dictatorial Control Over Your Free Vote," While the Secretary of State Calls the Package "a Shield Against Multiple Attacks"

On September 19, 2026, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of thirteen election bills at the Democracy Center of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, framing them as California's answer to federal interference in the November midterms. The package creates new felonies for seizing ballots, election records or voting equipment before certification (AB 282), for directing workers to interfere with the delivery or return of a mail ballot (SB 259) and for theft of election materials (SB 1418); restricts law-enforcement activity near polling places; requires election officials to notify the attorney general and secretary of state of any warrant or subpoena touching election records (AB 1664); expands ballot drop-off hours and language access; and tightens rules on AI-generated and deceptive campaign content. The signing followed the Justice Department's orders to states to preserve 2024 election records, its notices to two chief election officers that they were "under investigation," and its plan to send roughly 1,000 federal monitors to the midterm polls. Republican legislators argued existing law already criminalized ballot theft, and the state sheriffs' association objected that one bill gave the attorney general too much power.

“California is meeting the moment and with this package of bills, erecting a shield against multiple attacks against our elections. No one should doubt the degree of our resolve in protecting our democracy. This legislative package ensures that California voters will not be silenced or intimidated.”
Shirley N. Weber (D-CA) · Sep 19, 2026

Sep 16, 2026· Updated

Three Weeks After Letting It Take Effect, the Supreme Court Reverses Course and Blocks Trump's Mail-In Ballot Rule 7-2 — Trump Calls the Two Dissenters "Legends Both" and Says His Own Appointees Are "a Shell of Their Original Selves," While Schumer Says His "Scheme Is Dead"

The Supreme Court on September 14 blocked the Postal Service mail-ballot rule at the center of Trump's March executive order — new envelope, tracking-barcode and voter-list requirements that critics said would disenfranchise voters with too little time before the midterms to implement. The order was 7-2, with only Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissenting; none of Trump's three appointees, including Justice Brett Kavanaugh, sided with the administration. Kavanaugh's concurrence found the rule likely had statutory backing in principle but was "arbitrary and capricious" to apply this close to the election. The ruling reverses the posture of an August 24 Supreme Court stay that had let the rule move forward, and is a sharp defeat for a policy the administration had defended as an anti-fraud measure. Solicitor General D. John Sauer argued the rule's "regulation of the U.S. mail — not federal elections — is plainly constitutional," while Trump attacked his own appointees on Truth Social as "merely a shell of their original selves" and praised the two dissenters as "legends both." Democrats, who had spent weeks warning the rule would suppress mail voting, celebrated the reversal. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said the president's "scheme is dead," and Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper called the decision a rejection of Trump's latest "attempt to infringe on Americans' right to vote."

“These are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court, they are merely a shell of their original selves. The Court's inability and unwillingness to do the right thing for our Country will go down, in a very negative way, in the annals of History.”
Donald Trump (R-FL) · Sep 16, 2026

The Supreme Court Lets Trump's Mail-Voting Order Move Forward 71 Days Before the Midterms — "A Giant Leap Forward" or "A Dagger Into the Heart of Our Democracy"

On Monday, August 24, 2026, the Supreme Court handed the Trump administration an interim victory on its effort to restrict who receives a mail-in ballot before the November midterms. In an unsigned emergency-docket order that divided the justices along ideological lines, the Court lifted the injunction U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani entered in June, which had blocked key provisions of President Trump's March 2026 executive order from taking effect in the 23 states and the District of Columbia that sued — a group that includes Arizona, California, Michigan, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The executive order directs the Department of Homeland Security to compile lists of confirmed adult U.S. citizens in each state, requires states that use mail balloting to hand the federal government lists of every registered voter receiving a mail or absentee ballot in a federal election, and instructs the U.S. Postal Service to decline to deliver mail ballots from states that do not comply. The Postal Service issued its final rules on August 22, adding new ballot design standards and serialized barcodes on outgoing and return envelopes. The majority wrote that its "disposition of this application does not mean that any measure taken by the government to implement the order will necessarily be lawful. On that score, time will tell." Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, warning the decision creates a "Kafkaesque nightmare" that "needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming midterm elections." Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justice Elena Kagan, wrote that the order "merely postpones adjudication" of whether the president may direct the administration of a state-run election at all. The ruling does not end the litigation. A second injunction Talwani issued on August 11 in a suit brought by the League of Women Voters and Democratic Party committees blocks the order nationwide and remains in force, and the states have said they will challenge the Postal Service's new rules. Democratic senators, governors and attorneys general cast the decision as sanctioning voter suppression weeks before ballots go out; Republicans who have long pushed to curb mail voting called it a win for election security and renewed their push for the SAVE America Act.

“We'll use every tool in our toolbox to ensure they know the truth about our elections. We'll follow the law. We'll protect the right to vote.”
Jocelyn Benson (D-MI) · Sep 6, 2026

The House Votes 220-192 to Condemn Socialism "in All Its Forms" — and Bolts the SAVE America Act Onto It, Splitting Democrats and Sending Eight Across the Aisle

On September 1, 2026, the House adopted H.Res. 1490 by a vote of 220-192, with two members voting present. The four-page resolution, introduced August 27 by Rep. Jeff Crank (R-CO), "condemns and denounces socialism in all its forms, including the Democratic Socialists of America," and also calls for enactment of the SAVE America Act — the voter-ID and proof-of-citizenship bill that Senate Democrats blocked in August. That second half is what made the vote a trap. Eight Democrats — Jared Golden (ME), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA), Don Davis (NC), Vicente Gonzalez (TX), Henry Cuellar (TX), Kathy Castor (FL), Darren Soto (FL) and Gabe Vasquez (NM) — voted yes anyway. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries voted no, calling the measure "toxic voter suppression legislation" dressed up as an anti-socialism vote. Reps. Maggie Goodlander (NH) and Chrissy Houlahan (PA) voted present. Four centrist Democrats — Josh Gottheimer (NJ), Hillary Scholten (MI), Jared Moskowitz (FL) and Tom Suozzi (NY) — tried to head the vote off with an amendment that condemned socialism and the DSA in stronger terms but stripped the SAVE America Act language. The Rules Committee declined to make it in order on August 31, in a markup where members traded accusations over government-run grocery stores and "silly season." Crank was explicit that the point was to put Democrats on the record against the DSA ahead of November. Majority Leader Steve Scalise tied the two halves together directly. Democrats called it a messaging exercise substituting for action on cost of living.

“House Republicans continue to desperately push toxic voter suppression legislation instead of working to make life more affordable for everyday Americans in the midst of a searing cost-of-living crisis.”
Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) · Sep 1, 2026

Texas's Third-Largest County Cuts 92 Election Day Polling Places Nine Weeks Before the Midterms — Three Republicans Outvote Two Democrats After Eight Hours and More Than 100 Speakers, and a Commissioner Calls It a "Modern Day Poll Tax"

On September 1, 2026 the Tarrant County Commissioners Court voted 3-2 to run the November midterms with 224 Election Day polling places — 92 fewer than the 316 the county used in the 2022 midterms. County Judge Tim O'Hare and Commissioners Matt Krause and Manny Ramirez, all Republicans, voted yes. Commissioners Alisa Simmons and Roderick Miles Jr., both Democrats, voted no. Tarrant County is the third-largest county in Texas and the largest urban county in the state that Republicans still control. It is also the county Democrats have spent a decade trying to flip. The vote came at the end of a meeting that ran more than eight hours and heard from more than 100 speakers, most of them opposed, with voting-rights advocates and representatives of some 30 civic groups rallying outside the courthouse that morning. Fort Worth's City Council had unanimously asked the county in August to reconsider the reductions and to distribute whatever sites remained fairly across the county. The Republican majority defended the consolidation as an efficiency and staffing decision — O'Hare said no Tarrant County voter should ever feel short of time to vote, and Krause called the demand for a specific number of sites arbitrary. Democrats on the court and James Talarico, the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, cast it as a deliberate narrowing of access: Miles told the majority they were creating "modern day poll taxes," and Simmons said the decision was "not about cost" but "about power."

“The last thing I want to see is anybody removed from the chambers. The last thing I want to see is anybody arrested. The last thing I want to see is a circus.”
Tim O'Hare (R-TX) · Sep 1, 2026

Jul 25, 2026· Updated

House Adopts $95 Billion "Reconciliation 3.0" Budget Blueprint 216-214 With SAVE Act Money Inside

On July 22, 2026, the House adopted H.Con.Res. 113, a $95 billion budget reconciliation blueprint, by a vote of 216-214. The framework directs four House committees — Armed Services, Agriculture, Administration and Intelligence — to draft legislation allocating roughly $60 billion for defense, $13 billion for intelligence, $12 billion for farm relief, and $10 billion to administer the Safeguard American Vote Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote. Routing the SAVE Act through reconciliation is a way around the Senate filibuster that has blocked it repeatedly. Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Warren Davidson (R-OH), along with Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-CA), joined every Democrat in voting no. The blueprint faces an uncertain path in the Senate, where Republicans including Thom Tillis, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Mitch McConnell have previously voted against the SAVE Act.

“We expect that we will confront the largest voter suppression effort in the history of the country. We're going to continue to stand strong against the voter suppression efforts of the Republican Party led by Donald Trump.”
Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) · Jul 25, 2026

Supreme Court Upholds Mississippi Law Counting Mail Ballots Postmarked by Election Day

On June 29, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Watson v. Republican National Committee that states may count mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day even if they arrive afterward, rejecting a Republican challenge to Mississippi's law allowing receipt up to five business days after the election. Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote the majority opinion, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and the court's three Democratic appointees, holding that federal "election-day" statutes set a deadline for casting ballots but do not bar states from counting ballots received later. Justices Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh dissented. The RNC, the Mississippi Republican Party, and the Libertarian Party of Mississippi had challenged the grace period, which is one of roughly 18 similar state laws. The decision was a defeat for President Trump and Republicans, who had pushed to require ballots be received by Election Day.

“In light of the tremendous loss in the Supreme Court today concerning Voter's Rights, and the fact that "people's" votes are allowed to be counted LONG AFTER an Election is over, it is more important than ever to pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT.”
Donald Trump (R-FL) · Jun 29, 2026

May 26, 2026· Updated

Alabama and Tennessee Call Special Sessions to Redraw Congressional Maps After Callais Ruling

Following the Supreme Court's April 29 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey and Tennessee Governor Bill Lee both announced special legislative sessions in early May 2026 to redraw congressional maps — part of a broader Republican-led redistricting wave sweeping the South before the 2026 midterms. Ivey called Alabama's session on May 1, initially having said the state was "not in position" for a special session before reversing course. Alabama's situation is complex: the state has an existing federal court injunction blocking the legislature from redrawing its map before 2030, stemming from a prior Voting Rights Act violation. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall separately asked the Supreme Court to lift that injunction. Alabama Republicans have targeted the state's majority-Black 7th Congressional District, held by Rep. Terri Sewell. The special session kicked off May 5. Tennessee announced its session on May 1, with Republicans planning to redraw the US House district covering majority-Black Memphis — currently represented by Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen — which had been redrawn after Shelby County v. Holder but may now be vulnerable post-Callais. Civil rights advocates and Democratic officials condemned both sessions as attempts to disenfranchise Black voters under cover of the Supreme Court's ruling.

“A federal court confirmed what we have said all along: Alabama's 2023 congressional map was intentionally designed to discriminate against Black voters and dilute our political power. While we know that this legal battle is far from over, today's ruling sends a clear message — Black voters in Alabama cannot and will not be silenced.”
Terri Sewell (D-AL) · May 26, 2026

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