Key facts
- The Justice Department directs prosecutors to pursue voter fraud cases by non-citizens.
- Approximately 90 investigations into immigrant voter fraud are currently open.
- Federal authorities are investigating alleged election fraud in California.
- A man convicted for his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was hired by the Pentagon.
- The Trump administration reportedly facilitated the hiring of the Jan. 6 rioter.
- President Trump nominated Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to lead the DOJ.
- Kurt Olsen, who aided efforts to overturn the 2020 election, joined the Justice Department in Florida.
- The Trump administration denied unlawfully retaliating against AI firm Anthropic.
- The Trump administration halted $3 million in annual federal funding to Hawaii's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.
- The University of Oregon faces a $65 million budget crisis.
The U.S. Justice Department has instructed prosecutors across the nation to actively pursue cases of alleged voter fraud by non-citizens, with approximately 90 investigations into this matter currently open. This directive is part of a broader federal focus on election integrity, which includes multiple investigations initiated by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California and the FBI into alleged election fraud in California. These California investigations are particularly concerned with the state's slow vote-counting process and its universal vote-by-mail system. Adding to the complexity of election-related matters, a man convicted for his role in the January 6th Capitol riot has been hired by the Pentagon's policy office, a hiring process reportedly facilitated by the Trump administration.
In personnel and policy shifts within the Justice Department, President Trump has nominated Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to permanently lead the DOJ. This nomination follows a public dispute where President Trump labeled Senator Thom Tillis a 'loser' for withholding support for Blanche's confirmation, a stance Tillis linked to condemning the January 6th Capitol attacks. Blanche has also announced that the DOJ will not proceed with a controversial $1.7 billion 'anti-weaponization' fund. Separately, Kurt Olsen, who aided efforts to overturn the 2020 election, has joined the Justice Department as a senior attorney in Florida, where he will report to prosecutors examining whether past investigations of Donald Trump constituted a criminal conspiracy.
The Trump administration has also been involved in other significant actions. It has denied unlawfully retaliating against AI company Anthropic in a court filing, acknowledging that agencies moved to restrict its products after the company resisted Pentagon demands regarding military uses of its Claude chatbot. Anthropic had sued, alleging the blacklisting violated its free speech rights. In a move impacting state-level operations, the Trump administration halted approximately $3 million in annual federal funding to Hawaii's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General denied the unit federal certification due to a lack of criminal indictments or convictions for Medicaid fraud or patient abuse between 2022 and 2025.
Furthermore, the Justice Department is moving to defend Chicago US attorney John Lausch Jr. amid controversy surrounding his office's handling of a former alderman's case. The University of Oregon is facing a $65 million budget crisis and declining enrollment, leading to dormitory closures, with author Jonathan Turley linking this to the university's 'woke' policies and lack of intellectual diversity, arguing it deters students and affects funding.