<p>Federal judges, appointed by both Democrats and Republicans, have handed the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/08/03/trump-anti-weaponization-fund-blanche" target="_blank">Justice Department</a> a steady stream of losses in the administration's attempt to obtain sensitive voter information.</p><p><strong>Why it matters:</strong> The DOJ has sued <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-five-additional-states-failure-produce-voter-rolls" target="_blank">30</a> U.S. states, as well as D.C., for rebuffing its demands, all to back President <a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">Trump</a>'s efforts to reshape voting after years of spreading unproven claims of massive fraud.</p><hr><p><strong>The latest: </strong>U.S. District Judge Philip Brimmer, a George W. Bush appointee, <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cod.249799/gov.uscourts.cod.249799.102.0_1.pdf" target="_blank">sided</a> with Colorado in dismissing the DOJ's case against the Democratic secretary of state with prejudice Monday.</p><ul><li>The administration argued that provisions in the Civil Rights Act of 1960 gave the attorney general "sweeping power" to obtain the sought-after records, which <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72021508/2/united-states-v-griswold/" target="_blank">included</a> registrants' driver's license numbers and the last four digits of their Social Security identifier. </li><li>But Brimmer concluded that compelling the release of the state's voter lists did not fall under that authority.</li></ul><p><strong>By the numbers: </strong>He's not alone: Judges in 20 cases, per the Brennan Center for Justice's <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/tracker-justice-department-requests-voter-information" target="_blank">tracker</a>, have rebuked the DOJ in a consistent losing streak.</p><ul><li>A judge in California <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.988465/gov.uscourts.cacd.988465.128.0.pdf" target="_blank">called</a> the request "unprecedented and illegal." In Rhode Island, a Trump appointee <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.rid.60988/gov.uscourts.rid.60988.51.0.pdf" target="_blank">named</a> it a "fishing expedition."</li><li>And in June, a U.S. appeals court <a href="https://www.opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/26a0180p-06.pdf" target="_blank">joined</a> the growing body of federal judges ruling against the DOJ, handing the administration its first appellate-level loss in its campaign.</li></ul><p><strong>The other side: </strong>Meanwhile, more than a dozen states have agreed to share the data the administration is seeking — while others agreed only to provide data that is <a href="https://thebeaconnews.org/stories/2026/03/20/department-of-justice-says-kansas-handed-over-private-voter-data/" target="_blank">publicly</a> available.</p><p><strong>Zoom out:</strong> The DOJ's quest for voter information is far from the only election pressure the administration has put on states. But it hasn't been all smooth sailing on those fronts, either.</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.axios.com/politics-policy/donald-trump" target="_blank">Trump</a> has claimed hundreds of thousands of unauthorized immigrants are on voting rolls in key states — but the numbers the Department of Homeland Security has <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2026/07/17/dhs-secretary-markwayne-mullin-sends-letters-secretaries-state-warning-about-non" target="_blank">publicized</a> in four states (all of which refused to hand over voter rolls) have baffled election officials, NPR <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/07/31/nx-s1-5906708/trump-claim-noncitizens-midterms-election-interference-voter-rolls" target="_blank">reported</a>.</li><li>He's pushed hard on a proof-of-citizenship voting bill, the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/06/24/trump-senate-republicans-save-act-cassidy" target="_blank">SAVE America Act</a>, but its <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/08/03/senate-republicans-save-act-august-recess-trump" target="_blank">future</a> in the Senate remains murky.</li><li>And his push to restrict mail-in voting, which has hit legal headwinds, <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/08/states-challenging-executive-order-on-mail-in-voting-ask-justices-to-leave-in-place-limits-on-it/" target="_blank">could</a> be heading to the Supreme Court.</li></ul><p><strong>Between the lines: </strong>The broad sweep approach to obtaining voter info isn't shaping up for the administration; some of the information has been received in other ways. </p><ul><li>ICE investigators obtained <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/06/13/ice-voter-files-texas-north-carolina" target="_blank">individual voter files</a> in at least two counties — one in Texas and one in North Carolina. </li><li>And the FBI recently obtained the IP address of someone who completed their <a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/07/31/fbi-voter-ip-address-investigation" target="_blank">voter registration online</a> in South Carolina, <em>Axios' Brittany Gibson reports.</em></li></ul><p><strong>Go deeper: </strong><a href="https://www.axios.com/2026/07/30/election-integrity-fears-november-midterms-poll" target="_blank">America gripped by election fears as November nears</a></p>