Trump Issues Order Against Mail-In Voting. Supreme Court Will Strike It.

Here’s another set of silly Executive Orders about to be blasted sky high.

Trump Proposes Eligible National List of Voters

The Washington Post reports Trump Issues Order Changing Rules for Mail-In Voting. That’s a free link.

President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order Tuesday that purports to change rules for mail ballots even though the president has limited authority over elections.

The order directs the U.S. Postal Service to send ballots only to voters who appear on a list of citizens to be compiled by the Department of Homeland Security with the assistance of the Social Security Administration. The order also specifies what types of secure envelopes are to be used for mail ballots.

Elections experts called the order legally questionable and noted that courts blocked the major provisions of an executive order on elections he signed last year.

The Constitution gives states oversight of elections while giving Congress the power to establish national standards for them. It does not give the president unilateral authority over how voting is conducted.

Trump predicted a legal challenge to the order.

“They’ll probably challenge it,” he said. “You find a rogue judge — a lot of rogue judges. Very bad, bad people. Very bad judges. And hopefully we’ll win on appeal if it is [challenged].”

“This executive order is plainly unauthorized and unlawful,” said Wendy Weiser, a vice president at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. “The president has no authority to regulate elections. He tried to do something like this a year ago. … We and others actually sued. We won. We expect the same result this time.”

Trump has long assailed voting by mail, which he has claimed, without evidence, is riddled with fraud and which he blames for helping him lose the 2020 election. He has pushed Congress to pass the Save America Act, a GOP-backed bill that would require every voter to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo identification at the ballot box.

The bill has been stalled in the Senate, frustrating Trump and many of his supporters who have embraced his accusations about widespread voter fraud. Critics say the legislation and other efforts to restrict voting would disenfranchise millions of Americans.

The administration has also sued 29 states to try to get copies of their voter rolls, which include voters’ birth dates, driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers. Courts have blocked the administration from getting voter lists in three states and have not yet ruled in the others.

Edward Foley, a professor of election law at Ohio State University, said the Constitution and federal law are clear in saying states, not postal authorities, determine who is eligible to receive ballots. That portion of Trump’s executive order “seems very legally suspect to me,” he said.

Richard Hasen, a UCLA law professor and director of the school’s Safeguarding Democracy Project, said presidents don’t have the power to create lists of who is eligible to receive ballots. “There’s no authority for any of this,” he said.

The executive order is “just a fantasy,” Hasen said. “That’s why I think this isn’t serious.”

Fantasyland Material

No doubt the MAGA worshipers are cheering this nonsense. But it’s not even close.

I wonder about some of the WaPo sources.

That portion of Trump’s executive order “seems very legally suspect to me,” said Edward Foley, a professor of election law at Ohio State University.

Suspect? No, it’s not suspect. It’s ludicrous Fantasyland material.

SAVE Act Is Dead

The Save Act is Dead. It will never clear the Senate.

This is just a silly effort to keep the MAGA crowd engaged in fantasies.

The amount of nonsense spilled over the SAVE Act is stunning.

SAVE Act Irony

Republicans would need to kill the filibuster to pass the act. The act would then die in the Supreme Court because it’s clearly unconstitutional.

Democrats would then be the beneficiary. Lord only knows what they may do the next time.

Thus, the entire effort to pass the SAVE Act is an exercise of extreme stupidity.

Trump’s Magnificent Ballroom

Please note Judge Halts Construction of Trump’s White House Ballroom

Here is the ruling of Justice Richard J. Leon, appointed by George W. Bush.

The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner! President Trump (“the President”) claims that Congress has given him authority in existing statutes to construct his East Wing ballroom project and to do it with private funds.

The plaintiff, the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States (“National Trust”), claims the President has no such authority under existing statutes and that a preliminary injunction is necessary to avoid irreparable harm.

I have concluded that the National Trust is likely to succeed on the merits because no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have. As such, I must therefore GRANT the National Trust’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction, and the ballroom construction project must stop until Congress authorizes its completion.

Conclusion

Where does this leave us? Unfortunately for Defendants, unless and until Congress blesses this project through statutory authorization, construction has to stop!

But here is the good news. It is not too late for Congress to authorize the continued construction of the ballroom project. The President may at any time go to Congress to obtain express authority to construct a ballroom and to do so with private funds. Indeed, Congress may even choose to appropriate funds for the ballroom, or at least decide that some other funding scheme is acceptable.

Either way, Congress will thereby retain its authority over the nation’s property and its oversight over the Government’s spending. The National Trust’s interests in a constitutional and lawful process will be vindicated. And the American people will benefit from the branches of Government exercising their constitutionally prescribed roles. Not a bad outcome, that!

Truth Social

Truth Social: In the Ballroom case, the Judge said we have to get Congressional approval. He is WRONG! Congressional approval has never been given on anything, in these circumstances, big or small, having to do with construction at the White House. In this case, even less so, because the Ballroom is being built with Private Donations, no Federal Taxpayer Money! President DONALD J. TRUMP

What to Expect

Once again, Trump is wrong. Expect an appeal.

Meanwhile, Trump is enjoined from any further work on the new “ballroom” pending the trial on the merits, which probably would not happen for a year at least unless it’s expedited.  

The order can be appealed to the DC Circuit and, ultimately, to the Supreme Court.

The DC Circuit frequently rules against Trump and I suspect they would again.

It’s not clear the Supreme Court would even take the case. This can easily die on appeal with the Supreme Court not hearing the case at all.

There is no major issue involved other than Trump’s vanity for the Court to consider.

The practical considerations are another matter, however.

Current Practical Situation

• The East Wing is already demolished, unfortunately.
• Judge Leon’s March 31 preliminary injunction halts above-ground ballroom construction (and further non-security site work) unless Congress passes explicit statutory authorization.
• The injunction is stayed for 14 days (so enforcement starts mid-April), and the DOJ has already appealed.
• Underground safety/security work is explicitly allowed to continue.
• Congress is highly likely to approve something, perhaps in the next budget resolution that I expect shortly.
• No law, at least yet, forces the administration to rebuild the old East Wing exactly as it was.

Demolished East Wing

The BBC has a nice graphic of the Demolished East Wing.

New satellite images show the entire wing has been razed to the ground.

With that unfortunate setup too late to change, let’s return to the SAVE Act.

SAVE Act Unconstitutional for Three Reasons

• Congress Lacks Authority to Impose Voter Qualifications.
• Violation of the National Voter Registration Act and Supremacy Clause Issues
• Undue Burden on the Fundamental Right to Vote

I have discussed those three points multiple times, most recently in SAVE Act Silliness: Trump’s “Go for the Gold” Killed It

Also see The SAVE Act Dies this Week. Get Over It.

The Save Act is indeed dead, but the coroner has yet to show up with the official pronouncement. Trump has acted in advance of the Senate failure with his Executive Order.

Q: Why are you confident the act is dead?
A: It will take a miracle to get it out of the Senate and the Supreme Court would strike it anyway, if it did.

It is beyond ridiculous reading ridiculous arguments on X on getting rid of Thune to then pass strike the filibuster. There are not 51 votes to break the filibuster and there are not 51 votes to get rid of Thune either.

Q: But how can you be so confident of the Supreme Court decision?
A: The same way I was confident of the Supreme Court on tariffs, and today’s clear presentation on Birthright Citizenship.

It’s the law, stupid. There are three strikes against the SAVE Act. It would fail in the courts if even one of them applied.

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Forgive me for bragging, but I got every justice correct.