Attorney General Jennings announces two major victories striking down executive orders on elections

Attorney General Jennings today announced two major victories as U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts grants summary judgment and permanent injunctions against two Trump Administration Executive Orders, EO 14248 and EO 14399.

"The Constitution is crystal clear: it is the authority of the states - not the federal government, and certainly not an out-of-control President - to administer elections," said Attorney General Kathy Jennings. "These flagrant attempts to intimidate voters and interfere with our elections were always illegal. The Court's rulings reinforce the fight for free, fair, and legal elections and show how we can fight back-and win-when our rights are threatened. We will continue fighting to protect elections in Delaware and across our country."

On Wednesday, June 24, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted the coalition's motion for summary judgment and blocked key provisions of Executive Order No. 14248 from taking effect. Issued by President Trump on March 25, 2025, the Executive Order attempted to conscript state election officials in the President's campaign to impose documentary proof of citizenship requirements for voter registration, force States to ignore mail ballots that are cast by Election Day but received by election officials just days afterward, and withhold various streams of federal funding from the States if they fail to comply. The coalition filed a lawsuit challenging the Executive Order in April 2025, secured a preliminary injunction blocking unlawful provisions of the Executive Order in June 2025, and successfully defeated the Trump Administration's motion to dismiss in September 2025. The coalition filed its motion for summary judgment in December 2025, and the court heard oral argument in February 2026.

President Trump issued Executive Order No. 14399, which attempted to establish a national list of eligible voters and directed the U.S. Postal Service, an independent federal agency, to transmit mail ballots only to those on the list, March 31, 2026. The coalition filed a lawsuit challenging that Executive Order in April 2026. On Wednesday, June 24, 2026, U.S. Postmaster General David Steiner confirmed to U.S. Senators that, under a proposed U.S. Postal Service rule based on Executive Order No. 14399, if states refused to turn over their absentee ballot lists, the U.S. Postal Service would not mail their absentee ballots.

The next day, on June 25, 2026, the court issued an order granting the states' motion for summary judgment, striking down sections of Executive Order No. 14399 as "unlawful, null, and void," and issuing a permanent injunction. The U.S. Postal Service is now prohibited from refusing to transmit mail-in or absentee ballots from voters registered in Delaware and other plaintiff states. The federal government is also barred from investigating or prosecuting state and local officials for not complying with blocked provisions of Trump's executive order in connection with the November 3, 2026, federal election or any earlier federal election.

In the lawsuit challenging Executive Order 14248, AG Jennings was joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.

In the lawsuit challenging Executive Order 14399, AG Jennings was joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia.