S-1240-119
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration.
Sponsored by Alex Padilla (D-CA)
What it does
This bill would nullify Executive Order 14248 (issued March 25, 2025), which directed changes to federal election administration including documentary proof of citizenship requirements for the national voter registration form. It would prohibit any federal funds from being used to implement that executive order. It would also separately bar the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing state voter registration lists, voter list maintenance records, federal immigration databases, or other state records related to federal elections.
Who benefits
Voters who are currently registered or would register without documentary proof of citizenship — estimated in the millions — who might otherwise be removed from or denied access to voter rolls. State election officials who prefer to maintain control over their own voter registration systems without federal interference. Civil liberties and voting rights organizations that have opposed the executive order in court. The Election Assistance Commission, whose independent authority over the national voter registration form would be preserved.
Who is hurt
Advocates for stricter voter eligibility verification who argue the executive order addresses a real risk of noncitizen registration. Federal agencies directed by the executive order to carry out its provisions, whose authority would be curtailed. The Department of Government Efficiency, which would be explicitly barred from accessing election-related data. Proponents of cross-referencing immigration and voter databases to identify potentially ineligible registrants.
Supporters argue
Supporters argue that Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution vests authority over federal election time, place, and manner with Congress and the states — not the President — making the executive order an unconstitutional overreach. They contend that the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, passed with bipartisan support, deliberately omitted a documentary proof-of-citizenship requirement for the national mail voter registration form, and that the executive order effectively rewrites that statute without congressional action. They further argue that granting DOGE access to state voter rolls and immigration databases poses serious risks to voter privacy and state sovereignty over election administration.
Opponents argue
Opponents argue that ensuring only eligible citizens vote is a legitimate federal interest, and that cross-referencing voter rolls with immigration records is a reasonable administrative tool to detect noncitizen registration — not an unconstitutional power grab. They contend that Congress has previously authorized executive coordination on election integrity matters, and that blocking DOGE data access prevents the federal government from identifying and correcting errors in voter rolls that states may lack resources to catch on their own. They further argue that this bill itself raises separation of powers questions by using legislation to nullify a specific executive order rather than addressing the underlying statutory framework.
Constitutional context
Article I, Section 4 (the Elections Clause) grants Congress authority to regulate the time, place, and manner of federal elections, with states holding default authority — a structural argument the bill's findings explicitly invoke. The bill also implicates the Tenth Amendment, as it seeks to protect state control over voter registration records from federal executive access. Post-Loper Bright (2024), any agency rules implementing the executive order would face independent judicial scrutiny without deference to the executive branch's statutory interpretation.
Checks and balances
Congress would gain authority by statutorily nullifying an executive action, reasserting legislative primacy over federal election administration; the check on this bill itself is the presidential veto and judicial review of whether Congress may legislatively void a specific executive order.
Historical precedent
Congress has previously used legislation to override or constrain executive orders on election administration, including the Help America Vote Act of 2002, which established the independent Election Assistance Commission partly to limit unilateral executive control over federal election standards.