Cantwell Joins Democratic Colleagues in Demanding DHS and SSA Uphold Federal Law Rather Than President Trump’s Illegal Executive Order to Limit Voting

Cantwell Joins Democratic Colleagues in Demanding DHS and SSA Uphold Federal Law Rather Than President Trump's Illegal Executive Order to Limit Voting

This week, Schumer tapped Cantwell to join a Democratic Senate task force to defend ballot access and voter rights in November

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) joined 27 of her colleagues in demanding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) follow existing federal law rather than the March 31 Executive Order signed by President Donald Trump, which violates the Constitution and risks disenfranchising eligible voters.

President Trump's directive, which has been challenged in the courts, would require DHS to create eligible voter lists - which the federal government does not have the authority to do. Under the order, DHS is required to use data from the Systemic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program that incorporates incorrect and incomplete, out-of-date citizenship information from SSA, which DHS has acknowledged may produce inaccurate citizenship verification results. If the President's executive order is implemented in place of current federal law, it will prevent many eligible voters from exercising their fundamental right to vote.

In their letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, the senators wrote: "The foreseeable result is that tens of thousands of eligible U.S. citizen voters will discover on Election Day that they are barred from voting because they have been incorrectly removed from voter rolls. Indeed, reports have already confirmed that eligible Americans are being targeted for removal from voter rolls after being erroneously flagged as non-citizens by the SAVE program. As state and local election officials have stated, the SAVE program's expanded use for voter roll maintenance would likely lead to even greater wrongful disenfranchisement."

"The Department should immediately discontinue the SAVE program's use for these illegal and non-statutory purposes and take no steps pursuant to the Executive Order that violate the law and risk disenfranchising eligible voters," the senators concluded.

In their letter to SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano, the senators wrote, "SSA data is already at the core of the overhauled SAVE program at DHS, which continues to have serious accuracy and reliability concerns. State and local elections officials, nonpartisan voter advocacy organizations, federal agencies, and courts have made clear that the SAVE program is not appropriate for voter roll maintenance because incorrect and out-of-date citizenship information in the databases it queries, including SSA databases, leads to eligible voters often being incorrectly flagged as non-citizens."

"Given that SSA is an unreliable source for information on U.S. citizenship, that recent DOGE activities at SSA put the American public's data at risk, and that federal interference in state-run elections is a clear violation of the Constitution's Elections Clause, SSA should immediately discontinue its data sharing activities and take no steps pursuant to the Executive Order that violate the law and risk disenfranchising eligible voters," the senators concluded.

The letters were led by U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

Read the full letter to DHS Secretary Mullin HERE.

Read the full letter to SSA Commissioner Bisignano HERE.

On Wednesday, Sen. Cantwell was tapped by Sen. Schumer to join a task force of senators fighting back against the Trump administration's illegal overreach into free and fair elections.

"Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of our democracy, so I'm glad to join Senator Schumer's task force on elections to make sure that this year we fight in the United States of America to preserve that right," Sen. Cantwell said during a press gathering ahead of a meeting of the group Wednesday.

Video of the press gathering is HERE; a transcript of Sen. Cantwell's remarks is HERE.

On March 31, President Donald Trump issued an illegal executive order that would direct his administration to compile lists of eligible voters in each state and direct the USPS to mail ballots only to those voters who meet that criteria - a clear violation of the Constitution, which delegates authority to oversee elections to the states.

Last week, Senate Republicans failed to pass the SAVE America Act, a disastrous voter suppression bill that would disproportionately harm women who change their name upon marriage and rural voters - many of whom make up their own base.

READ MORE:

The Seattle Times: Trump's attacks on mail-in voting may hurt his own supporters in WA

The Spokesman Review: SAVE America Act would require Washingtonians to mail photocopies of official IDs with ballot to vote

In the 2024 election, nearly 48 million people - almost a third of all voters - cast their ballots by mail. All states offer registered voters the opportunity to vote by mail in federal general elections and 12 states, including Washington - an early pioneer in expanding by-mail voting - conducted their 2024 elections entirely by mail. Washington state started vote-by-mail in 1983, adopted optional vote-by-mail in 2005, and enacted universal vote-by-mail in 2011.

Sen. Cantwell has been a stalwart defender against overreach of the Trump administration into our elections:

• On April 23, she joined colleagues in introducing the Absentee and Mail Voter Protection Act to block President Trump's illegal and unconstitutional March 31 executive order attacking mail and absentee ballots and protect the right to vote by mail.
• On April 22, she sent a letter to the United States Postal Service warning the agency against complying with the executive order, which would undermine mail-in voting.
• On April 1, after the executive order on mail-in voting was announced, she issued a statement in opposition.
• On March 18, she convened a group of current and former elected officials and representatives of nonpartisan voter advocacy groups for a virtual press conference on defending voter access. Video of that entire virtual press conference is HERE; video of Sen. Cantwell's statement is HERE; and a transcript of Sen. Cantwell's statement is HERE.
• On March 15, she issued a snapshot report showing that the SAVE America Act - a voter suppression bill - would cost Washington state taxpayers more than $35 million this year alone.
• On Feb. 24, Sen. Cantwell invited Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs as her guest to President Trump's State of the Union address to draw attention to the issue.
• On Feb. 20, she convened local leaders in Seattle for a press conference urging Washingtonians to fight back against these proposed new burdens to voting.
• On Feb. 19, she gathered in Vancouver with the Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey and local chapter heads of the League of Women Voters and the NAACP for a press conference on how this bill would disenfranchise voters.
• Also on Feb. 19, she released a snapshot report showing who in Washington would face undue hurdles to voting if the SAVE America Act were signed into law. The report shows that certain populations - including people who live in rural areas, women who changed their name after marriage, and people who recently moved - would face additional, cumbersome burdens to prove their citizenship.
• On Feb. 5, she appeared on MSNOW's Morning Joe to push back against the Trump administration's heightened efforts to interfere in state-run elections and collect private data on American voters. Video of Sen. Cantwell's appearance is HERE; a transcript is HERE.
• On Jan. 29, Sen. Cantwell joined Senate colleagues in a letter to then-Attorney General Pam Bondi, pushing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to stop its unlawful pressure campaign to coerce dozens of states into providing the Trump Administration their voter rolls, which include voters' personally identifiable information. DOJ has sued 24 states - including Washington state - and the District of Columbia demanding the personal information of their voters.
• On Jan. 15, she joined Senate colleagues in a letter to USPS Postmaster General David Steiner raising concerns with recent developments affecting postmark practices. Right before the holiday season, USPS changed its postmark practices, which could have significant impacts on voters nationwide and in Washington state - including rural voters, military and overseas voters, and many others who rely on rely on the mail to safely and securely cast their ballot.
• On Jan. 9, she joined 13 Senate colleagues in filing an amicus brief before the Supreme Court in Watson v. Republican National Committee, a significant case pending before the Court that affects voting by mail. The case, brought by the Republican National Committee, threatens the election administration practices of states like Washington that permit the counting of mail ballots that are postmarked by Election Day to be counted when they are received within a certain number of days after Election Day. The Court heard oral arguments in the case last month and a ruling is pending.