This Week at Democracy Docket: DOJ’s Latest Anti-Voting Lawyer — and SCOTUS Saves Trump Again

It wasn’t the week’s biggest news. But on Friday, perhaps my favorite recent Democracy Docket story offered the kind of deep, granular reporting, exposing the people and institutions quietly leading Trump’s war on voting, that you won’t find anywhere else.

Senior reporter Matt Cohen dug into the latest anti-voting lawyer to find a home at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Matt reported that Eric Neff, who’s now playing a key role in DOJ’s effort to seize unredacted state voter data, was put on leave as a local prosecutor after bringing flawed charges based on a tip from a prominent far-right election-conspiracy group — leading to a lawsuit that cost taxpayers $5 million.

One top election administration expert called Neff’s hiring by DOJ “DEI for loyalists.”

But despite the ongoing disaster at the Justice Department, we got a reminder this week that the biggest current obstacle to a healthy democracy may be the conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court.

On Thursday, the justices handed President Donald Trump a major win in his quest to rig the 2026 midterms via gerrymandering, greenlighting Texas’ new congressional map, in a 6-3 vote, despite a recent lower court ruling that found it discriminated against Black and Latino voters. It was just the latest in a string of high court decisions that have gravely weakened U.S. democracy while empowering the president.

Democracy Docket has led the way in tracking the Texas scheme, and reporters Jen Rice and Yunior Rivas covered every angle of the ruling. Yunior also followed up with what could be a less-noticed silver lining: The court’s opinion OK-ing Texas’ pro-GOP map suggests it may have a hard time blocking California’s pro-Democratic one, which voters approved last month in response. Though I’m pretty sure some justices will give it a try.

Meanwhile, in Missouri, Republicans may not have the Supreme Court to save their gerrymander. Which is one reason why they’re pulling out every dirty trick in the book to protect it.

On Wednesday, Donald Trump Jr. sicced his large and aggressive social media following on Richard von Glahn, who leads a campaign to organize a ballot measure letting the state’s voters weigh in on the new GOP-friendly map. Trump Jr.’s post — which assailed von Glahn as a “leftist nut job … trying to STEAL a GOP House seat” — was the latest tactic in a concerted Republican campaign, tracked closely by Democracy Docket, to intimidate or obstruct backers of the pro-democracy ballot measure (even including trying to get ICE involved).

Hours after Trump Jr’s attack, Jen got Von Glahn on the phone. And he made clear that advocates for fair maps in Missouri aren’t backing down.

Finally, Democracy Docket’s Jacob Knutson was first to highlight the latest example of the Trump administration flatly ignoring clear rulings by the federal courts. 

Both Alina Habba and Lindsey Halligan, two Trump loyalists installed as acting U.S. attorneys, have been disqualified from their posts after being found to have been improperly appointed. The finding about Halligan came in a case challenging the bogus prosecutions she brought, on Trump’s orders, against two of his perceived political enemies.

But, Jacob noticed, that hasn’t stopped DOJ from continuing to use Habba and Halligan’s bogus titles — including, in Halligan’s case, in court filings. Habba hasn’t even changed her social media bios.

Others flagged the issue in the days after we did — including a judge in a case Halligan brought, who said she would put an asterisk in court documents.