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ACLU Sues Trump, Pence Over White House Voter Fraud Commission

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Lawsuit Says Commission Has Violated Federal Law

The ACLU has filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and their election fraud commission in U.S. District Court. In its Monday filing, the ACLU is alleging the commission had violated federal public access requirements by holding its first meeting in private, without public notice.

The civil rights group, technically the American Civil Liberties Union, and the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, is arguing that the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act, (FACA) (Pub.L. 92–463, 86 Stat. 770,) a 1972 federal statue, which governs the behavior of all federal advisory committees including presidential commissions. In particular, it has special emphasis on open meetings, chartering, public involvement, and reporting. which requires all advisory committee meetings to be open to the public and timely noticed in the Federal Register.  

According to the ACLU’s suit, the commission chairman, Vice President Pence, had conducted its first meeting via a 90-minute telephone conference with members on June 28. The ACLU is also alleging that the second meeting of the commission is now scheduled to take place in a building generally inaccessible to the public, the Eisenhower Executive Office Building within the White House complex, and none of the documents already relied upon by the Commission have been made available to the public. Both actions are in violation of FACA’s explicit rules governing these official bodies according to the ACLU. 

The ACLU also notes that the Vice Chairman, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, had told members the commission was sending a letter to the 50 states and the District of Columbia requesting information on registered voters, including full names and addresses, political party registration and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers.

According to press reports, as many as 44 states and the District of Columbia have so far refused to turn over the requested information, in some cases responding to the request in an angry fashion.

In an interview last week with The Hill, Susan Dudley, a former administrator with the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) under President George W. Bush, said that Trump’s voter fraud commission may have violated the law by ignoring federal requirements governing requests for information from states. Dudley noted that the commission’s failure to submit its request to states on their voter registration rolls through OIRA violates a 1980 law known as the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA). Other experts agreed with Dudley’s assessment and noted that failure could be significant, since states could argue it means they are under no obligation to respond.

“If the commission gets heavy-handed with them, it seems to me that the states are within their right to say, ‘No, we don’t have to respond because you didn’t go through [OIRA],’” Dudley told The Hill.

The suit also notes that under FACA guidelines, the commission must be balanced, which the ACLU notes is not the case, as its membership is primarily comprised of persons who have previously endorsed President Trump’s public and unproven claims of voter fraud coupled with the fact that no provisions have been instituted to insulate the commission’s advice and recommendations from the president’s influence.

In addition to the ACLU suit, the Washington Post has reported the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center has also filed a lawsuit to block the commission from collecting state voter records from across the country.

The group claims the government should have assessed privacy concerns before making the request, should be using a secured website to receive the information and should not make public partial Social Security numbers.

Brody Levesque is the Chief Political Correspondent for The New Civil Rights Movement.
You may contact Brody at Brody.Levesque@thenewcivilrightsmovement.com

To comment on this article and other NCRM content, visit our Facebook page.

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News

Republican Says Trump on Immigration Could Be Like Lincoln Was for Slavery

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July 16, 2025

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U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) is calling on President Donald Trump to support her bipartisan bill that would grant temporary legal status to undocumented immigrants, allowing them to remain in the United States. On immigration, Congresswoman Salazar says Trump could be just like Reagan was for communism or Lincoln was for slavery.

“There’s no way we can grow as a country and continue being the number one economy in the world if we don’t have hands,” Salazar said, referring to immigrant workers. “So let’s be intelligent. Let’s just bring them out of the shadows, make them pay—something that they’re not paying right now. Make them pay a fine, no federal programs, and they can go home for business, and they can buy a home.”

Her plan, the Dignity Act, would not provide amnesty or a path to citizenship. But, she says, it “offers a strong, commonsense approach and focused on putting American interests first.”

READ MORE: ‘Go Home’: Noem Tells Farmers to Help Their Undocumented Workers ‘Self Deport’

Salazar praised President Trump, saying with his so-called One Big beautiful Bill, “the economy is going to gonna burst, just like it happened in 2019.”

“I go back to the president. The president is the guy who can make this happen. There is no other president like Trump. Look what he did with Iran. Look what he did Venezuela, with China.”

“So I have no doubt, I have faith that he could be for immigration, what Lincoln was for slavery, and Reagan was for communism.”

Critics blasted Salazar’s comparisons.

“Rep. Salazar has used this line a few times and while I understand what she *means* to say I respectfully submit that she has not thought through the implications of what she *actually* said,” remarked attorney Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council. He added: “hint: Reagan was not good for Communism and Lincoln was not good for slavery.”

“Maria Salazar comparing Trump to Lincoln on slavery and Reagan on communism is beyond absurd,” wrote investment banker Evaristus Odinikaeze. “Lincoln fought to end human bondage. Reagan opposed totalitarian regimes. Trump put kids in cages, demonized immigrants, and ran on fear, not freedom. History will remember the difference. Seems like she meant to compare Trump to Nixon, not Lincoln.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: Trump Appears to Forget He Appointed Fed Chair — Denies Rumors He May Fire Him

 

 

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‘Go Home’: Noem Tells Farmers to Help Their Undocumented Workers ‘Self Deport’

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July 16, 2025

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U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has a blunt message for undocumented farmworkers: “Go home.” She’s urging farmers to assist in the process—by helping those workers “self-deport.”

“I would encourage everybody,” Secretary Noem said on Wednesday, “if people are here in this country illegally, go home.”

“I mean, the law is the law, and we are upholding the law, and, the President is very clear that he doesn’t believe that the law should apply to some people and not to others—that there should be consequences for some people and not for others,” she said.

President Donald Trump has said that he and his administration are working on a plan to help farmers keep their undocumented workers, many of whom, he said, are “almost impossible to replace.” Trump suggested some form of sponsorship might be possible in the future, where farmers would be responsible for their workers who are undocumented.

READ MORE: Trump Appears to Forget He Appointed Fed Chair — Denies Rumors He May Fire Him

Noem said that every undocumented person, including the undocumented farm workers—has “the opportunity right now to self deport.”

“We will buy their plane ticket and when they land, they will be able to get $1,000 in their hand to care for their families, and they get the chance to come back, she claimed. Federal law places bans on some of those trying to return, in some cases for up to ten years.

“And so, that’s what I think is so remarkable, is that we will let them come back the right way, and we’re facilitating that today,” she insisted.  “So every individual that’s here in this country that’s concerned, or every farmer out there that has somebody that’s working for them, that’s concerned, you know, you know, work with getting them home, so they can come back and get in the right way.”

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Jeremy Konyndyk is the president of Refugees International.

He says, “Farmers face financial ruin over deportations.”

Noem’s “claim that people can ‘come back’ after self-deporting is ludicrous on its face,” Konyndyk adds. “Why then deport in the first place? And in any case, that does nothing for farmers who need crops picked NOW.”

President Donald Trump’s favorability on immigration continues to drop. What was once among his most positive categories now has him underwater.

“About half (52%) of Americans think that Trump’s approach to immigration policy is too harsh; 36% think it is about right and 7% think it is too soft,” according to a YouGov poll report published Tuesday. “At the start of Trump’s term, significantly fewer — 40% — thought his approach to immigration was too harsh; 43% thought it was about right and 4% said it was too soft. The largest shift has been among Independents: 57% currently think Trump’s approach is too harsh, up from 36% in January.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Popping Champagne’: Russia Scoffs, Snubs Trump’s 100% Tariff Ultimatum

 

Image via Reuters

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Trump Appears to Forget He Appointed Fed Chair — Denies Rumors He May Fire Him

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7 hours ago

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July 16, 2025

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President Donald Trump is denying multiple reports that he intends to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, even as he continues to criticize him and express frustration over the Fed’s refusal to cut interest rates to the levels he has demanded. The Federal Reserve is an independent central bank, and the President has no legal authority to dictate its actions. On Wednesday, Trump criticized Powell, appeared to forget that he appointed him, and blamed President Joe Biden for his nomination.

Should Trump attempt to fire Powell, it would be an unprecedented move. The U.S. Supreme Court has indicated there are limits to the President’s authority to remove Fed officials.

On Tuesday evening, in a meeting with Republican lawmakers, Trump asked their opinion of firing Powell, whom he nominated in late 2017. Powell was renominated by President Joe Biden in 2021. The chairman of the Federal Reserve serves four-year terms, and Powell’s expires next year.

READ MORE: ‘Loathsome’: Fox Host’s ‘What Up, My Nazi?’ Rant Slammed by Civil Rights Icon

“The President asked lawmakers how they felt about firing the Fed Chair. They expressed approval for firing him. The President indicated he likely will soon,” a senior White House official told CNBC, NBC News reported.

“A recent Supreme Court decision indicated that the president does not have the authority to remove Fed officials at will,” NBC also reported.

But CNBC later reported that Trump denies he plans to fire Powell.

“We’re not planning on doing it,” he said. “It’s highly unlikely.”

Minutes ago, in the Oval Office, Trump appeared to forget he had been the first to nominate Powell as Fed chair. He told reporters that Powell is a “terrible Fed chair,” and he was surprised he had even been appointed. Trump added, “I was surprised, frankly, that Biden put him in and extended him.”

Responding to the video (below) the House Ways and Means Democrats asked, “Did he forget?”

U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) wrote: “Legit question, does he have memory issues? Or does he remember but doesn’t want people to know that this is his fed chair? I just want a normal leader in this job….”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Divine Providence’: Johnson Paints Trump as ‘Miraculously’ Spared by God

Image via Reuters

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