The Justice Department is threatening California with possible legal action after it says the state mailed ballots to noncitizens ahead of the midterm elections.

The DOJ sent a letter on Tuesday to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber informing her that federal officials provided Los Angeles County election officials with a list of names of individuals who authorities believe to be noncitizens.

Acting Deputy U.S. Attorney Trent McCotter warned that the state has 48 hours to confirm whether any of the individuals on the list were mailed ballots for the November 3 election. That deadline will expire later on Thursday.

"If you cannot implement this process by then, given the ongoing federal election, the United States will have no choice but to seek emergency relief," the letter states.

Weber released a statement protesting the federal demands on Wednesday, connecting it to earlier efforts by the DOJ to expunge noncitizens from California's voter rolls.

"In July of this year, President Trump and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin made (still) unsubstantiated claims that California had 190,000 noncitizens on its voter rolls. Given the many high-profile examples of states purging U.S. citizens from their voter rolls based on DHS/SAVE data, SOS immediately requested written information about their methodology and data sources to back up their claims. They refused and provided California with nothing," Weber said in a statement.

"Now the USDOJ, under threat of 'emergency' litigation, demands that California blindly trust this administration without any evidence or legal authority to justify its request," she continued.

"The USDOJ’s relentless efforts to unlawfully gain access to states’ protected voter data and purge voter rolls serve only to cause chaos and fuel public distrust in our elections," Weber added. "California has robust state law requirements that only U.S. citizens can register to vote and that any non-eligible registrants are removed from the State’s voter rolls. My office and California election officials remain committed — as always — to ensuring a fair and smooth 2026 General Election."

President Donald Trump's administration has heightened scrutiny on state voter rolls since gaining office, as part of the president's wider interest in election integrity.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doj-gives-california-48-hours-review-list-possible-noncitizens-voter-rolls

By Ben Whedon

Published: October 14, 2026 11:28am

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday announced the purge of 189,000 subsidized Medicare, Medicaid, or CHIP enrollments for deceased persons or duplicate enrollees, saying the move would stop more than $1 billion in erroneous payments to insurance companies annually.

"In 2026, CMS [Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] identified 189,000 subsidized enrollments involving duplicate Medicare, Medicaid, or CHIP coverage on record showing the enrollee has died," he said in a press conference. "CMS acted to remove improper subsidies in all these cases."

Kennedy stated that the purge would save taxpayers $738 million in 2026 alone and that future savings would reach an annualized rate of $1.5 billion.

"Each of those figures represents a payment that would otherwise have gone to an insurance company, not to an American citizen," he added. He further highlighted that CMS had contacted the enrollees or their estates to give them 30 days to address any potential mistakes.

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/rfk-jr-announces-purge-189k-dead-or-duplicate-enrollees-subsidized-healthcare

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