Congress May Get the Voter Rolls From New Jersey Where DOJ Failed
Yesterday the Governor of New Jersey and a top Justice Department official spent the afternoon arguing on X through dueling quote tweets — which is, apparently, how government works now. Underneath the noise is a real structural question: there are exactly three ways Washington gets a state’s voter file, and two of them don’t work.
Route one is the civil suit, and it has failed sixteen times out of sixteen where courts have ruled — every loss on the ground that the Civil Rights Act of 1960 records provision doesn’t give the federal government authority to compel a state’s list. The merits never enter it. Route two is criminal: a grand jury can subpoena what a civil court won’t, but grand jury material is secret under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e), so you win the file and are forbidden to discuss it — and indicting a Democratic governor three months out from a midterm writes the opposition’s best fundraising email for them. Route three is the one that actually delivers: Congressman Jeff Van Drew, chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, sent Governor Sherrill twelve written questions with an August 21 deadline, told Politico he is “absolutely exploring” subpoenas, and is planning hearings this fall. Congress’s subpoena power is an implied power incident to the legislative function — McGrain v. Daugherty (1927), Eastland (1975) — and has nothing to do with the 1960 statute DOJ keeps losing under. It’s a separate power, and hearings are public by design.
Meanwhile the underlying numbers are moving in both directions at once. Sherrill now says roughly 2,000 of the 6,600 flagged registrations may belong to actual citizens, and fewer than 400 of the original group cast a ballot, with no evidence any outcome was affected. In the other direction, New Jersey’s Administrative Office of the Courts disclosed that about 75,000 people a year are disqualified from jury service after telling the state they aren’t U.S. citizens — a figure that reflects jury pools drawn from Motor Vehicle, Taxation, and Elections records, and which the state has never once compared against the voter rolls. A pending bill, A509, would force that comparison back to 1994. That’s the shape of the thing: this argument has been partisan and evidence-free in America for years. It’s now partisan with evidence. That’s an upgrade.
Eric Garland is an intelligence analyst personally sanctioned by the Russian Federation in May 2022 for his work on Russian intelligence operations. He is the author of the 2016 “Game Theory” thread, named by The New York Times as one of the 25 most important tweets in history.
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SOURCES
New Jersey Globe — Rep. Van Drew, chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, sends Gov. Sherrill twelve questions with an August 21 deadline, July 23, 2026 Politico (via Yahoo News) — Van Drew “absolutely exploring” subpoenas; fall hearings planned, July 2026 Philadelphia Inquirer — Gov. Sherrill, July 28, 2026: 4,500+ registrations being removed, more than 2,000 flagged may actually be citizens and referred to county officials, fewer than 400 voted, no evidence outcomes affected, outside law firm retained @AAGDhillon on X — “DOJ will get this information through all legal means!”, July 28, 2026 New Jersey Globe — Administrative Office of the Courts spokesman Pete McAleer: “Roughly one quarter of the reported disqualifications — approximately 75,000 individuals per year — are based on lack of United States citizenship”; jury pools drawn from the Division of Elections, Division of Taxation, and Motor Vehicle Commission, July 2026 New Jersey 101.5 — bill A509 would require comparison of jury disqualification records against voter registration records back to 1994; Assemblyman Robert Auth quoted Cronkite News — “In 16 cases where courts ruled on DOJ demands for voter data access, the department has lost them all,” July 21, 2026 United States v. Benson, No. 26-1225 (6th Cir. June 24, 2026), 2–1, Nalbandian dissenting; DOJ petition for rehearing en banc filed July 8, 2026 McGrain v. Daugherty, 273 U.S. 135 (1927); Eastland v. U.S. Servicemen’s Fund, 421 U.S. 491 (1975) — congressional subpoena power Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e) — grand jury secrecy Fox News — state Sens. Kristin Corrado and Joe Pennacchio call for a bipartisan state investigation with subpoena power; Senate President Nicholas Scutari prefers awaiting the governor’s review, July 29, 2026
