Attorney General Bonta Secures Back-to-Back Victories for Democracy, Court Blocks President Trump’s Second Elections Executive Order

OAKLAND — Co-leading a coalition of 23 attorneys general and the Governor of Pennsylvania, California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued the following statement after the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted the coalition’s motion for summary judgment and permanently blocked key provisions of Executive Order No. 14399 — President Trump's second elections-related Executive Order — from taking effect in the 24 plaintiff states through the November 3, 2026 general election. Specifically, the court struck down the provision ordering the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to create “State Citizenship Lists” of eligible voters and threatening prosecution of state officials who mail ballots to ineligible voters, as well as the provision directing the United States Postal Service to initiate rulemaking to create its own voter eligibility lists and limit the mailing of absentee ballots to voters not included on those lists. According to the court, these provisions “are ultra vires and unconstitutionally violate the separation of powers[.]” 

“Just yesterday, President Trump’s first elections-related Executive Order was blocked. Now, his second elections-related Executive Order has suffered the same fate, and rightfully so. As the federal judge wrote in today’s decision, ‘The Constitution does not grant the President any specific powers over elections.’ Those powers are reserved to the States and Congress,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Democracy doesn’t work on its own — it requires constant vigilance. And that’s what my fellow attorneys general and I will continue to provide.” 

In April 2026, the coalition filed a lawsuit challenging Executive Order No. 14399. The coalition was co-led by Attorney General Bonta, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, and Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, and included the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. Later in April 2026, the coalition filed a motion for summary judgment, which the court ruled on today.