A federal judge ordered the government to shut down a voter database it built knowing it was illegal.
The system started as a way to verify immigration status for government benefits, but the administration rebuilt it into a tool to hunt for noncitizens on the voter rolls. More than sixty million people were analyzed. Some were citizens. The fraud they were chasing turns up in 0.04% of voters.
Records show the agencies understood the law and built the machine anyway, then kept it running while real citizens were purged from the rolls. A judge has stopped it for now, and the Trump administration insists it did nothing wrong.
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A Washington Post investigation reports that confidential memos appear to show former DNI Tulsi Gabbard's childhood guru secretly guiding her conduct in Congress.
Today’s GovBrief News
Vance says Iran will let U.N. nuclear inspectors back in, but Tehran says nuclear negotiations have not begun.
Source: CBS News
June 22, 2026
A federal judge refuses to disqualify acting Attorney General Blanche and U.S. Attorney Pirro from prosecuting the Correspondents' Dinner shooting suspect, despite their statements that they could have been victims.
Source: The Hill
June 22, 2026
Federal judge quashes Justice Department subpoenas targeting Governor Walz and other Minnesota leaders, ruling the demands were an unconstitutional effort to coerce immigration enforcement.
Source: KMSP Minneapolis
June 22, 2026
Federal judge strikes down Agriculture Department waivers that let 22 states bar SNAP recipients from buying soda and candy, finding the agency rewrote the legal definition of food.
Source: UPI
June 22, 2026
The Supreme Court refuses to let a Texas death row inmate present intellectual-disability evidence that could bar his execution, though state prosecutors backed his appeal.
Source: The Texas Tribune
June 22, 2026
Trump says five people were arrested for vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, offering no evidence, as a law professor says the bystanders merely witnessed damage his own botched renovation caused.
Source: NOTUS
June 22, 2026
The Treasury Department plans to launch a public website, fraud.gov, for Americans to report suspected waste and fraud in federal programs, taking effect immediately before any public comment.
Source: FedScoop
June 22, 2026
A one-year Republican ban on Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood expires July 5 with no extension, after the Senate parliamentarian capped it at one year and the GOP concedes it lacks the votes.
Source: The Independent
June 22, 2026
Federal regulators open a special investigation after a Tesla driver using Autopilot crashed into a Texas home and killed a 76-year-old woman.
Source: Ars Technica
June 22, 2026
A Trump supporter's company, ScottsMiracle-Gro, pledges $1 million to repair the White House lawn its sponsored UFC event destroyed, drawing ethics complaints.
Source: The Washington Post [gift link]
June 22, 2026
The Senate passes a bipartisan housing affordability bill 85 to 5, restricting large companies from buying single-family homes and waiving some environmental reviews for new construction.
Source: The Hill
June 22, 2026
Federal judge rules Trump's national voter database illegal and orders it dismantled, finding agencies knew it violated privacy law but built it anyway.
Source: Cyberscoop
June 22, 2026