The Trump administration has requested that the Supreme Court allow the government to confirm the citizenship of voters. A lower court previously blocked the use of Social Security numbers and other information in the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database.
“The district court has issued an indefensible order that threatens the integrity of upcoming elections by vacating the federal government’s authority to internally use Social Security data when fulfilling its duty to respond to requests by states to verify the citizenship of individuals for voting and other purposes,” the new filing states.
“The court’s order also fails on the merits, as the policy is consistent with all applicable federal statutes,” the filing reads. “The order will irreparably harm the federal government, the States, and the public by depriving the government of an effective tool to verify the eligibility of registered voters and benefits applicants under various state and federal programs.”
The SAVE system was updated in May 2025 and has since faced legal battles.
After Judge Sparkle Sooknanan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the updates to the tool violated privacy laws, Judge T. Kent Wetherell II of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida ruled that DHS must ensure that the SAVE database can process bulk requests and use Social Security numbers.
“Moreover, the principles of comity that might otherwise weigh in favor of deferring consideration of the motion to enforce until Judge Sooknanan and/or the D.C. Circuit determines whether to enter a stay are not entitled to much weight here because if Judge Sooknanan had deferred to this Court’s implicit determination that the modifications to the SAVE system were lawful, the parties (and the courts) would not be in the current predicament,” Wetherell wrote.
