A federal appeals court on Sunday scrutinized the Trump administration's emergency effort to force California to set aside thousands of mail-in ballots tied to people the Justice Department suspects are noncitizens ahead of the midterm elections.
The three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit raised questions about both the government's legal arguments and whether the court has jurisdiction to intervene during a hearing in which attorneys representing the Trump administration and California argued for nearly two hours, Fox News' Matt Finn reported.
The federal government asked the panel to rule immediately, arguing that hundreds of thousands of California ballots could be tabulated each day while the dispute remains unresolved.
The hearing comes after the Trump administration filed an emergency request involving roughly 20,000 mail-in ballots sent to people it suspects are noncitizens.
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The DOJ wants California election officials to set aside ballots associated with individuals on its list while their eligibility is reviewed, rather than allowing the ballots to be processed alongside other votes.
Circuit Judge Mark Bennett, a Trump appointee, questioned whether the administration's requested injunction could be reconciled with the Constitution's Elections Clause, which gives state legislatures authority over the times, places and manner of congressional elections, subject to congressional regulation.
"It seems to me that you want us to issue an injunction that is entirely inconsistent with the law that the California legislature has adopted pursuant to the Elections Clause," he told Justice Department attorney Matthew Donnelly.
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"How can we do that?"
The panel also questioned whether the Ninth Circuit has jurisdiction to intervene at this stage.
Judge Gabriel Sanchez, a Biden appointee, questioned why the Ninth Circuit should weigh in when the district court has yet to rule on the DOJ's request and a hearing before U.S. District Judge David Carter remains scheduled for Tuesday.
Judge Patrick Bumatay, another Trump appointee, focused more heavily on the government's concerns about potential noncitizen voting and questioned California's handling of challenges involving suspected ineligible voters.
The Justice Department sought emergency relief from the appeals court after Carter did not rule by a deadline previously requested by the department.
California, meanwhile, has argued that the Ninth Circuit should not intervene before the lower court has ruled.
The Justice Department initially filed the suit Oct. 15, roughly two weeks after California began mailing ballots.
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Before oral arguments, the Trump administration accused California of having a history of "mishandling voter rolls."
California has disputed the federal government's underlying data while emphasizing that it has robust safeguards against noncitizen voting. Los Angeles County officials have said a preliminary review of a portion of the federal government's list identified apparent discrepancies, including people who were born in the United States or were not registered to vote. In a filing this weekend, California argued that the federal government's theory would "turn the Constitution on its head."
"When it comes to rules of elections administration, the federal government has no power to interfere with the States unless Congress passes a law governing the time, place, or manner of elections," the state contended.
More than 3 million people have already cast ballots statewide, including more than 500,000 in Los Angeles County, according to figures cited during the litigation.
The Justice Department has emphasized the urgency of its request, arguing that each day without a ruling risks allowing additional ballots to be processed before the citizenship dispute can be resolved.
Bennett said the three-judge panel would try to issue a ruling as quickly as possible.
Reuters contributed to this report.