Dems, advocates sue Trump over effort to restrict mail-in voting

A series of voting rights groups and top Democrats have sued President Donald Trump in two separate lawsuits that aim to block his new restrictions on mail-in voting, alleging they amount to an unlawful power grab.

The ACLU and other civil rights organizations are representing the voting rights groups, which include the League of Women Voters of the United States, in one lawsuit filed April 2 that argues Trump's order will exclude "potentially millions of eligible U.S. citizens" from voting.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, along with Democratic organizations, filed a lawsuit April 1. They argue that the changes to voting "imminently threaten to disenfranchise lawful voters and plainly exceed the President’s lawful authority."

"Only Democrat politicians and operatives would be upset about lawful efforts to secure American elections and ensure only eligible American citizens are casting ballots," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told USA TODAY in a statement.

"President Trump campaigned on securing our elections and the American people sent him back to the White House to get the job done," she added.

The Justice Department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump signed his executive order March 31, which directs the U.S. Postal Service to create "uniform standards" to prevent the service from transmitting mail-in ballots of people who are not approved to vote. The service would provide each state with a list of "enrolled" voters.

The voting rights groups and Democrats say that Trump is violating the separation of powers laid out in the U.S. Constitution by attempting to exercise power that belongs either to Congress or to the states.

The Constitution says states will set the times, places and manner of holding elections for members of Congress, but also that Congress may pass a law to alter those regulations, except for on the locations of Senate elections.

Trump for years has spread baseless claims that he actually won the 2020 presidential election, despite numerous audits and reviews confirming that Joe Biden won that election. Since re-taking office in 2025, Trump has repeatedly attempted to cast doubt on U.S. elections and pushed to take control of election processes that are largely run by states.

In a Feb. 2 appearance on "The Dan Bongino Show," Trump said Republicans should "nationalize" voting and "take over the voting in at least ‒ many, 15 places."

For weeks, Trump has pushed unsuccessfully for Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and photo ID to vote, and would make states hand over their voter rolls to the federal government while creating a program to remove noncitizens from them.

Contributing: Zac Anderson, Joey Garrison, Zachary Schermele – USA TODAYThis story has been updated with additional information.