A federal judge struck down on Friday the Justice Department’s nationwide effort to collect voter registration records and identify suspected non-U.S. citizens, blocking the Trump administration from continuing the program even in states that voluntarily cooperated. U.S.
Page B40From§Eachthe evening edition — 10 October 2026
Judges strike down DOJ's voter-roll hunt a fourth time; Supreme Court's own order keeps it alive.
As it ran on the front
THE CHIEF lays out the job the way she always does: don't tell her it's hard, tell her what's already in the room. A privacy statute barring states' voter data from unauthorized use — already on the books. A whistleblower channel — already open. Judicial review of agency overreach — already standing. Nobody on this crew has to invent a tool. They just have to watch the shop use the ones already in the drawer, four times, before October turned ten days old.
THE PLANNER starts at the oldest blueprint. On September 15, a whistleblower told The Hill that Department of Homeland Security employees were sent to pose as voters while hunting noncitizens on state rolls, pulled files on people flagged as "unlawful voters," and ran the search in a way that likely violated state law. The first part on the table: a statute that already says you can't do this, doing its job before the program cleared the building.…
…(cont) THE TINKERER picks up the next piece ten days later. On September 25, the Supreme Court let the program keep running anyway, issuing an emergency order allowing the Department of Homeland Security's SAVE database to operate during appeal — because existing law blocks most states from purging voters within 90 days of an election, and the order filled the gap. One piece of the machine, bolted in place by the court meant to inspect it.
THE MUSCLE swings first at Georgia. On October 1, a federal judge dismissed the Justice Department's lawsuit for the state's full voter rolls outright — the department's 26th court defeat chasing this list nationwide, Judge Victoria Marie Calvert ruling that federal law didn't override the state's own privacy protections.
THE PILOT lands the fourth one. On Friday, Judge Sparkle Sooknanan ruled the Justice Department's nationwide collection of state voter rolls unconstitutional, finding the department exceeded its legal authority and violated federal privacy law — and blocked the program even in states that had volunteered to cooperate. The privacy statute didn't care who said yes.
Four rulings, one program, zero new laws required. The toolbox that stopped it sat in the shop the whole time: a privacy statute, a whistleblower channel, a district court calendar. The only piece still bolted to the wall is the one the Supreme Court itself installed in September, holding the database open on appeal while every court underneath it says the thing shouldn't run at all. Nobody had to build anything. They used what was already there, four times, a month before the midterms this was supposedly all about.
“Four separate courts tell this administration no, and the one piece still running is the piece the Supreme Court itself allowed in September — that's not resistance, that's a design flaw with a court seal on it. They lose in Georgia, they lose in DC, a whistleblower says they sent people to pose as voters, and the database still runs a month out from the midterms. Somebody's grandmother ends up on a list of "unlawful voters" before anyone checks if she's a citizen — that's the stakes.”
“Look, this is one district judge in Washington making a policy call — the Supreme Court already said the database can run during appeal, so the real law is on our side, full stop. Twenty-six losses? That's not a pattern, that's twenty-six activist judges, and before you ask, no, I haven't read the Georgia ruling. The whistleblower thing — did I say whistleblower? I meant a disgruntled employee. That's not what I meant.”
Earlier in this story
- Nine days after the watchdog cleared the Fed renovation, White House reopens the firing the Court called unconstitutional By Lou · the afternoon edition, 9 October 2026
- White House defies judge's order to restore press access, calls access a privilege not a right. By Mitch · the afternoon edition, 8 October 2026
The receipts
A federal judge has struck down the Trump administration's plan to check state voter rolls against federal immigration databases and press states to remove voters it determines are registered illegally.
Judge says justice department policy of checking state voter rolls against a federal immigration database is unlawful A federal judge ruled on Friday that the US justice department’s policy of collecting states’ unredacted voter rolls to check them against a federal immigration database is unlawful. The ruling, by the US district judge…
US District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan ruled that the Justice Department's push to obtain state voter rolls to check citizenship status is unconstitutional.
· Federal judge dismisses DOJ lawsuit seeking Georgia voter rolls from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
· Whistleblower says DHS voter probe might violate state laws, wrongly target US citizens from the morgue, 15 Sep 2026
· Supreme Court allows Trump admin to use federal voter eligibility database during appeal from the morgue, 25 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.