The American Democracy Minute Radio News Report & Podcast for June 25, 2026
There’s another development in the deployment of the expanded, and notoriously inaccurate, SAVE database, repurposed to verify citizenship for voting purposes. The Trump administration, having lost multiple court challenges, is reportedly proposing to withhold state election security funding for noncompliance.
In 2025, the Trump Justice Department asked, then demanded, that states submit voter rolls and other personal information to expand the database, hoping to identify exceedingly rare noncitizen voters. DOJ then sued 30 states and Washington, DC for not complying. According to a Brennan Center tracker, judges dismissed cases against nine of those states. June 22nd, a federal district judge in DC blocked inclusion of Social Security and other federal data as a violation of federal privacy statutes.
Having lost in court, the Trump administration is apparently ramping up pressure using the power of the purse. CNN reported June 23rd that it obtained a draft memo suggesting that the Department of Homeland Security will threaten the withholding of 20% of state CISA election security funding if states don’t comply with the SAVE database demands and implement other election administration changes. Since 2018, CISA grants help states harden their election systems from foreign attackers, including Russia, China and Iran.
We’ll be following this development closely. We’ve linked to CNN’s reporting and our past reports on the SAVE database at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
CNN – Exclusive: Trump administration plans to use homeland security funds to pressure states into election changes
Brennan Center for Justice – Tracker of Justice Department Requests for Voter Information
Legis1 – Election Security Funding Crisis Exposed at House Hearing
NOTUS – Trump Tries a New Tactic to Change Election Rules
Protect Democracy – The SAVE tool, explained
Related ADM Reports:
American Democracy Minute – Federal District Court Rules Use of Social Security and Other Federal Data for SAVE Database Violates Multiple Federal Privacy Statutes
American Democracy Minute – Federal Circuit Courts Block Trump DOJ from Obtaining California and Oregon Voter Data
Groups Taking Action:
League of Women Voters, Electronic Privacy Information Center, ACLU
Register or Check Your Voter Registration:
U.S. Election Assistance Commission – Register And Vote in Your State
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