Attorney General Bonta Secures Another Victory Against President Trump's Second Elections-Related Executive Order

OAKLAND - Co-leading a coalition of 23 attorneys general and the Governor of Pennsylvania, California Attorney General Rob Bonta secured another victory in the coalition's lawsuit challenging Executive Order No. 14399, President Trump's second elections-related Executive Order. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit denied requests by the U.S. Department of Justice and intervenor states to pause a district court order blocking key provisions of the Executive Order in the plaintiff States for the upcoming fall midterm elections while the appeal proceeds. Specifically, the district court's order blocks a provision that directs the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to issue regulations that would prohibit the mailing of ballots to voters who are not included on new USPS lists of "enrolled" mail voters. All three First Circuit judges who considered the appeal unanimously agreed that this provision should not take effect while the appeal proceeds. The district court's order also blocks provisions that direct the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to create voter eligibility lists for each state, despite the government's concession that the lists would be incomplete, and that target state officials for potential prosecution if they mail ballots to voters deemed ineligible.

"The Trump Administration does not have authority under the U.S. Constitution to dictate how states administer elections," said Attorney General Bonta. "This decision ensures key provisions of President Trump's second elections-related Executive Order remain blocked for the upcoming midterm elections in the plaintiff States. We will continue fighting to protect the right to vote and defend the rule of law."

In April 2026, the coalition filed a lawsuit challenging Executive Order No. 14399. The coalition was co-led by Attorney General Bonta, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, and Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, and included the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.