On Tuesday, a judge appointed by former President Joe Biden halted the Trump administration’s use of a citizenship database, which allows local governments to verify voter eligibility.
Biden nominated U.S. District Judge Sparkle Sooknanan of the District of Columbia in February 2024. The Senate confirmed her that December, meaning much of her record stems from rulings during the second Trump administration.
Sooknanan ruled Monday that a portion of President Donald Trump’s March 2025 executive order on election integrity was unlawful. The case centered on a partnership between the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to expand the SAVE database — short for Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements. The expansion allowed agencies to search individuals using Social Security numbers, aggregate large amounts of data, and function as a citizenship verification tool to screen voter eligibility.
“Since then, states have partnered with the federal government to access the database and are actively removing U.S. citizens from voter rolls based on inaccurate information,” the judge wrote. “All in all, the federal government has knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote. This court cannot stand idly by while that happens.”
Here are three things to know about Sooknanan’s previous rulings:
1. Blocked Trump’s Removal of Labor Official
In March 2025, Sooknanan ruled that Trump’s removal of Federal Labor Relations Authority Chairwoman Susan Grundmann was unlawful and ordered her to be reinstated.
Sooknanan ruled the firing violated statutory protections for members of the independent labor board and rejected the administration’s argument that those protections were unconstitutional. The decision became part of a broader legal battle over presidential authority to remove officials from independent federal agencies.
2. Blocked FTC Action Against Media Matters
In August 2025, Sooknanan issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Federal Trade Commission from enforcing a civil investigative demand against Media Matters for America, a left-leaning media watchdog group.
She determined the group was likely to succeed in its claim that the FTC investigation violated the First Amendment and constituted retaliation for protected speech and reporting activities.
3. Issued Key Immigration Enforcement Rulings
In August 2025, Sooknanan issued an emergency order temporarily blocking the Trump administration from deporting hundreds of unaccompanied minors who came to the United States from Guatemala.
The ruling prompted the administration to halt planned removal flights while litigation over the children’s legal protections continued.
Later, Sooknanan rejected the Trump administration’s effort to dismiss a challenge to its use of Guantánamo Bay for immigration detention.
She subsequently ruled the administration lacked statutory authority to detain migrants at the facility, though she did not order the operation shut down.
