9th Circuit Gives Trump a Win on Noncitizens Voting in CA, Reverses Decision Hours Later

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals gave Trump a win on Monday to lift a block on the administration’s investigations into voting by noncitizens in California, but only a few hours later the same court reversed its own decision and put the block back on.

A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit had ruled on Monday, granting the Justice Department’s request to pause a temporary restraining order issued by a San Francisco federal judge to block the DOJ efforts to stop illegal voting. The lower court judge had barred the DOJ from making further requests to set aside suspicious ballots with a warning that failure to do so could result in prosecution of state and local officials who refused the order.

The three-judge panel ruled that the government would be likely to prevail in a court case challenging the order, and so lifted the San Francisco judge’s block, because criminal investigations are core executive functions.

But a few hours later, the full eleven-judge panel reheard the case and moved to restore the lower court’s block on the administration’s orders.

The case against the administration was brought by unions, the NAACP, and the League of United Latin American Citizens. They argued that the administration was engaging in a campaign of intimidation of noncitizen voters.

The administration counters that the effort is necessary to assure election integrity.

“Americans deserve to have confidence in their elections,” U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli wrote on X. “The courts have made it clear that the preferred remedy for election law violations is criminal prosecution. Building on Operation Protect the Vote, we will continue investigating and charging those who violate election laws or assist in their violation.”

Acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter pledged to keep working for election integrity despite the setback, writing on X, “We will continue pursuing every available legal avenue to protect the integrity of our elections and ensure federal law is enforced.”

On Monday, the DOJ announced the arrests of an additional 63 individuals — including four illegal migrants — in connection with illegal voting schemes.

“Today’s announcement marks the largest surge of voter-fraud arrests since Trump returned to office,” said AG Todd Blanche. “These foreign nationals allegedly took advantage of the trust of the American people and flouted the laws that govern our nation’s elections. This Department of Justice will continue investigating and prosecuting voter fraud to restore confidence in our electoral system.”

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