Executive Order 14399: Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections
President: Donald J. Trump
Directs DHS to compile state citizenship lists, Justice to prioritize specified election-law enforcement, and USPS to consider ballot-mail rules; the 2026 postal rule remains subject to a preliminary injunction.
Status: Blocked by courts. Is Executive Order 14399 still in effect? Executive Order 14399 is blocked by court rulings. See Federal Register record.
What does Executive Order 14399 do?
EO 14399, signed March 31, 2026, directs DHS to compile and transmit citizenship lists to states where feasible and lawful, instructs Justice to prioritize investigation and appropriate prosecution under existing election laws, and asks USPS to begin rulemaking on federal ballot mail. It does not require states to use a federal list or itself decide any voter’s eligibility. USPS later issued a ballot-mail final rule, but the September 2026 preliminary injunction still limits its use for the November election.
Later evidence reviewed September 25, 2026: The August 24 stay concerning the executive order and September 14 denial of a stay concerning the separate USPS rule have different effects. Check the linked dockets and your state election office for current procedures.
Before and after
Before the order
States administer voter registration and elections under federal and state law. Federal agencies already had statutory functions concerning citizenship information, law enforcement and the mail.
The order invokes HAVA, NVRA and constitutional provisions; those cited laws and their limits remain relevant to each agency action.
After the order
DHS was directed to create and send state citizenship lists to the extent feasible and consistent with law; states are not required by §2(a) to use them. Justice was told to prioritize specified existing-law enforcement.
USPS issued a separate final ballot-mail rule effective August 21, 2026. The Supreme Court stayed an injunction against the order on August 24, but on September 14 denied a stay of the later preliminary injunction against the postal rule. The latter injunction remains in effect as of this review.
Who had to do what
| Agency / office | Action | Timing / position |
|---|---|---|
| Homeland Security and Social Security Administration | Compile, verify and share permitted citizenship and identity data for state lists; transmit where feasible and lawful | Order’s deadlines, subject to law |
| Justice Department | Prioritize investigations and appropriate prosecutions of existing election-law violations | Ongoing, subject to law |
| US Postal Service | Initiate proposed ballot-mail rulemaking; later issued its own final rule | Proposed rule June 2026; final rule effective August 21, 2026, with injunction on implementation |
What happened next
EO 14399 signed.
Published at 91 FR 17125.
USPS published a proposed ballot-mail rule.
District court preliminarily enjoined portions of the executive order in the states’ case.
USPS final rule’s stated effective date.
Supreme Court stayed the June injunction against the order in Trump v. California, No. 26A124; it did not give a final merits judgment on every implementation step.
District court entered a distinct preliminary injunction against the postal final rule.
Supreme Court denied the government’s emergency stay request concerning the postal-rule injunction, No. 26A305.
Guide checked against primary order, rule and court dockets; litigation continues ahead of the November 3 election.
Court status
See the court documents in Sources by type.
Legal and source detail
How it works legally
The August Supreme Court order addressed the states’ standing to challenge specified EO provisions and stayed that preliminary injunction pending appeal. It did not automatically stay the later injunction against USPS’s final rule. The Court denied the separate postal-rule stay application on September 14. Neither emergency order is a final judgment on all election procedures, and state and federal statutory rules continue to govern voter eligibility and voting methods.
Sources by type
If a source is unavailable, first check the cited publisher or another official repository. The cited publisher remains the authority.
Primary and official sources
Orders, laws, court records and official implementation material.
How we checked this
Last checked against the sources above on September 25, 2026. How we research →