July 8, 2026: She Denied a Stay. The Vacatur Held Pending Appeal.

DOCUMENTED

E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse, 333 Constitution Avenue NW

E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse. AgnosticPreachersKid, 30 May 2010. CC BY-SA 3.0.

Same case. League of Women Voters v. DHS, No. 1:25-cv-03501-SLS. The federal defendants noticed an appeal of the June 22 judgment on June 25 (ECF 113) and moved to stay ECF 112 pending appeal (ECF 116). On July 8, 2026, Judge Sooknanan denied the stay. The memorandum is docketed as ECF 123.

The stay opinion recites the June 22 holdings: the modified SAVE system and the two SORNs were set aside as violating the Social Security Act, the Privacy Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act. It addresses a July 7 order from Judge T. Kent Wetherell II, Northern District of Florida, directing DHS to restore certain SAVE functions for Florida, Iowa, Indiana, and Ohio under a 2025 settlement. She wrote that Wetherell “erred in significant ways,” that the Florida consent decree binds only the parties there, and that it was not a basis to stay her order as to other SAVE users. Those are her words in the stay papers. They are not a ruling that vacates the Florida order.

A stay denial keeps the June 22 vacatur in place while the D.C. Circuit hears the appeal. It is not a circuit holding. H.Res. 1421 was introduced the next day.

Sources

Memorandum opinion denying stay, League of Women Voters v. DHS, No. 1:25-cv-03501-SLS (D.D.C. July 8, 2026) (ECF 123). DocumentCloud

Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Same case (stay denied July 8, 2026; 2026 WL 1972055). clearinghouse.net

The Epoch Times (reporting). “Federal Judge Orders DHS Not to Obey Order From Another Judge.” theepochtimes.com

Washington Examiner (reporting). “Federal judges clash over DHS SAVE database for voter roll citizenship checks.” washingtonexaminer.com

Opinion

The following is commentary by this site. It is not a finding of fact and not a legal conclusion.

Compiler take

Florida told DHS to turn the features back on for four states. She told DHS the vacatur stays. Two district judges, one database, and a circuit appeal. The House dropped articles the next morning. That sequence is the file. It is not a finding that she “disobeyed” another court as a crime. It is a stay denial.