Friday, March 14

ON THE DOCKET THIS WEEK

• The Trump administration destroyed classified USAID documents
• Arizona’s Secretary of State wants to fill the election security void left by CISA cuts
• What’s going on with voter ID and registration laws in Montana?

TRUMP ACCOUNTABILITY

The Trump administration destroyed classified USAID documents

The investigative newsroom ProPublica uncovered a disturbing directive this week from USAID’s acting executive secretary, Erica Carr, to its remaining employees: Empty the safes with classified documents and "shred as many documents first, and reserve the burn bags for when the shredder becomes unavailable or needs a break."

It’s the latest example of the Trump administration directing federal agencies to engage in potentially illegal activities — and prompting swift legal action in response. Shortly after news broke, unions representing career diplomats and federal workers filed an emergency motion against the Trump administration to prevent USAID officials from violating federal law by destroying classified records.

The motion — part of a lawsuit filed to prevent the Trump administration from shutting down USAID — argues that the destruction of USAID documents would violate federal laws that bar agencies from destroying documents without prior approval from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

But the plaintiffs withdrew their emergency motion Thursday after the Trump administration said that the USAID documents that were destroyed were copies of classified files. The government clarified that it would not destroy any documents without notifying the plaintiffs.

This wasn’t the only legal action filed in response to Carr’s directive: Kel McClanahan, the executive director of National Security Counselors, a non-profit public interest law firm, also filed an unauthorized disposition complaint with NARA asking it to step in and investigate alleged destruction of USAID federal records.

McClanahan said besides issuing complaints to NARA, the public is limited in its ability to prevent federal agencies from destroying documents. Only plaintiffs in ongoing lawsuits, like the union groups who filed the motion, can ask a court to order agencies to stop destroying documents, he said.

“This is indicative of the main problem with all the records laws,” McClanahan said. “All the record laws were written with the presumption that agency officials would not be craven. But they are.” Read more about the legal efforts to stop the Trump administration from destroying USAID documents here.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR

CISA

Arizona’s Secretary of State wants to fill the election security void left by CISA cuts

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) confirmed this week what many election officials and voting rights advocates feared would happen: it’s abandoning its work to help states with election security.

In a statement to Democracy Docket, a spokesperson for CISA confirmed that they cut funding to the agency’s crucial Election Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC), which state and local election offices rely on to help fight foreign cyber attacks to disrupt elections.

The decision came as a shock, but not a surprise to several secretaries of state, who worked closely with the federal cybersecurity agency. “Since January, the Trump administration has cut vital election security programs and there is uncertainty about the future of funding for federal programs that safeguard elections,” Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) said in a statement to Democracy Docket. “My office is currently examining how to fill potential gaps.”

“While I wish that they had consulted with Secretaries of State, election administrators and others, I understand that the decision is final,” Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon (D) said in an interview with Democracy Docket. “What I don’t yet know is whether the services and offerings that we have received from EI-ISAC will continue in some sort of new arrangement.”

But at least one secretary of state is taking matters into his own hands to fill the void: Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D). According to a memo obtained by Democracy Docket, Fontes’ office wants to form a new organization called VOTE-ISAC, “an independent organization committed to safeguarding elections and restoring international confidence in the integrity of our democratic processes.”

The memo mentions that EI-ISAC’s dissolution has left county election offices across the country with a $45 million gap in cybersecurity resources. Without EI-ISAC’s resources, thousands of state and local election offices are now without 24/7 threat monitoring systems and federal intelligence sharing on ongoing foreign election and disinformation threats.

Right now, VOTE-ISAC is just in the proposal phase. The plan is for VOTE-ISAC to run as a non-profit organization and the memo outlines a nine-month phased implementation, which includes getting public officials, philanthropic partners and private industry leaders on board to help secure funding. Read more about Adrian Fontes’ plan to create a new nonprofit election security organization.

MONTANA

What’s going on with voter ID and registration laws in Montana?

In a win for voters this week, pro-voting groups reached an agreement with Montana’s secretary of state and attorney general to permanently block portions of a Republican-backed law that criminalizes voters who are inadvertently registered to vote elsewhere.

The agreement comes after more than a year of litigation challenging provisions of House Bill 892, which was signed into law by Gov. Greg Gianforte (R) in May 2023. The bill’s backers said it was intended to block voters who register to vote in Montana from deliberately remaining registered to vote in another jurisdiction.

But the law imposed criminal penalties and fines even on people who violated the provision inadvertently. And the pro-voting groups who sued over it alleged that it was overly vague in its language, which could be used to unjustly punish voters for making a mistake. The lawsuit also challenged a provision of HB 892 that requires a person who was previously registered to vote in another county or state to provide their previous registration information when they’re registering to vote.

“HB892’s reach far exceeds its stated (and legitimate) purpose of prohibiting double voting,” the plaintiffs wrote in their original lawsuit. “It criminalizes both the act of maintaining multiple voter registrations and the failure to include prior-registration information on applications, even if voters and registrants have no intention of actually voting in more than one place — and even if they never do.”

It’s hard to think of a group of voters who would have been more disenfranchised by HB 892 than student voters, who frequently may be unintentionally registered to vote in another jurisdiction when they move for school. It’s long been a common theme among Republicans to target student voting and so it comes as no surprise that in the same month HB 892 is permanently blocked, Montana’s GOP-controlled House passed a new bill targeting student voting.

House Bill 413, introduced March 1 by state Rep. Jane Gillette (R), proposes adding new residency requirements under Montana law for both voters and candidates to the state legislature. Under Montana’s current law, an individual can’t gain residency status in a county if they are only there temporarily, “without the intention of making that county the individual’s home.” HB 413 says that the language is vague and proposes strengthening it by including “temporary work, training, or an educational program,” as reasons for living in a county temporarily — meaning students wouldn’t be able to vote in the county they’re living in for school.

And the attack on student voting isn’t unique to Montana. Indiana’s GOP majority in the state senate recently passed a bill striking down the use of a student ID as valid voter identification. Watch Marc and Paige discuss the GOP’s latest efforts to disenfranchise student voters here.

OPINION

We Can’t Give In to Fear

NEW VIDEO

What Every American Can Do To Fight DOGE with Rep. Jamie Raskin

What We’re Doing

Senior Reporter Matt Cohen has been reporting doggedly on how the cuts to CISA are affecting election security for state and local officials all over the country. But the harm that the Trump administration is causing the nation’s cybersecurity agency goes well beyond the voting rights space. A new investigation over at WIRED reveals how longtime staffers at CISA are living in fear over the Trump administration’s actions and what it means for the future of the agency.