Supreme Court Allows Expanded SAVE Checks During Appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, September 25, allowed the Trump administration to resume using an expanded federal database for voter-citizenship checks while a legal challenge continues. The 6-3 emergency order lifts a lower-court block on the redesigned Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements system, known as SAVE. It does not resolve the underlying dispute over whether the system’s data-sharing complies with federal law and privacy protections. The Department of Homeland Security redesigned SAVE in 2025. The updated system permits searches using Social Security information and bulk queries, expanding a tool originally used by government agencies to verify immigration status for benefits. The administration says it can help state and local election officials respond to requests to verify voters’ citizenship. The order allows the federal government to make the system available for that purpose as the case proceeds. The court’s majority said the challengers’ legal claims were likely to fail, reasoning that a 1996 law likely authorizes the federal government to request and receive citizenship information from other agencies.