Power Grab/Fire anyone who can stop him
Attorney General Blanche says the Justice Department may ask the Supreme Court to intervene in its losing voter-roll suits
The department sued about 30 states and the District of Columbia for unredacted voter rolls. No certiorari petition had been found as of October 2026.
What happened
On August 16, 2026, on NBC’s Meet the Press, Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department may ask the Supreme Court to intervene in the voter-roll lawsuits it has lost. He said the department was “not going to stop,” describing that as “making sure that there are no constitutional legal violations, even at the state level.”
The department has lost every district-court ruling to reach a decision, 23 by Democracy Docket’s count. It sued about 30 states and the District of Columbia for unredacted voter rolls under Title III of the Civil Rights Act of 1960. District courts in Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania found no federal law requires disclosure.
On June 24, 2026, the Sixth Circuit became the first appeals court to rule against the department. DOJ sought en banc rehearing there and had appealed about 20 losses across nine circuits. In the same interview, asked whether he would always act independently of the president, Blanche declined: “no attorney general should ever pledge that.”
Who benefited
The administration’s election operation would gain a national database of voters’ private data if the Court reversed the lower courts. Litigation keeps pressure on states regardless of outcome. Blanche used his first Sunday interview as attorney general to align the department with Trump’s election priorities.
Who wanted something
Trump and his election-integrity officials have demanded the rolls since 2025 to pursue claims of noncitizen voting. The demand sought every state’s full voter file, including partial Social Security numbers, and 17 states complied. Blanche, Harmeet Dhillon’s Civil Rights Division and DHS drove the requests and suits.
Who lost out
Voters in the states sued have private data, including partial Social Security numbers, that the federal government seeks to hold with no stated purpose. State election officials must litigate the same question in 30 courts during a midterm year.
Why it matters
A department that has lost every voter-roll case to reach a decision is promising to escalate, while its head declines to promise independence from the president who wants the data. The Supreme Court is the next place the department says it may go.
Sources NBC NewsVotebeatWikipedia (citing The Guardian)Democracy DocketDemocracy Docket