Attorney General Jeff Sessions will reportedly drop government opposition to the Texas state ID law.
The adults are in charge now, kids.
BREAKING: Attorneys: Trump administration says it will drop federal government's opposition to strict Texas voter ID law.
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 27, 2017
NPR reported:
The Department of Justice is reversing the federal government’s position in an important voting rights case, involving a Texas voter ID law. The switch was not unexpected following the election of Donald Trump and confirmation of Jeff Sessions as Attorney General. Both Trump and Sessions claim voter fraud is a major problem and have backed voter ID laws.
In a motion filed Monday, DOJ asked a federal court to dismiss the department’s earlier claim that the ID law was enacted with the intention of discriminating against minority voters. That claim was made by the Obama administration as part of a broader legal challenge to the law, which is among the strictest in the nation.
But the Trump administration notes that the Texas legislature is now considering changing the law to address concerns that it hurts minorities. DOJ says those efforts should be allowed to proceed.
Voting rights advocates, who worked with the Obama Justice Department for years on the court challenge, expressed outrage at the reversal.