@robertbarnes

Subject: Supplemental FOIA Request — INS v. Chadha, National Emergency Authority, and 2026 Federal Election

Dear FOIA Officer:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552, I respectfully submit this focused supplemental request for records concerning presidential authority to regulate the conduct of the November 3, 2026 federal election through a declaration of national emergency, executive order, or other unilateral executive action.

This request is intended to identify existing agency records, not to request legal research, legal advice, or the creation of new records.

Please search for records created, received, transmitted, or maintained from January 1, 2025 through the date of search concerning:

1. INS v. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919 (1983), insofar as that decision has been cited, discussed, analyzed, or considered in connection with presidential emergency powers, national emergencies, or federal election administration.
2. The National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. §§ 1601 et seq., or other asserted emergency authority, insofar as considered as authority for presidential action affecting the administration of the 2026 federal election.
3. Presidential authority, whether under Article II, the National Emergencies Act, or any other constitutional or statutory provision, to impose or direct requirements concerning:

• voter identification;
• documentary proof of United States citizenship;
• voter-registration eligibility or verification;
• mail-in or absentee voting;
• voting machines or voting technology;
• federal or state voter lists;
• United States Postal Service handling or transmission of federal election ballots; or
• other rules governing the conduct or administration of the November 3, 2026 federal election.

4. Records analyzing the relationship between such asserted presidential authority and the Elections Clause, U.S. Const. art. I, § 4, cl. 1, including the respective constitutional authority of state legislatures, Congress, and the President over federal elections.
5. Records concerning whether a presidential declaration of a national security emergency or national emergency involving election integrity, foreign interference, voting systems, mail voting, or voter eligibility could authorize measures that Congress has not enacted into law.
6. Records discussing whether INS v. Chadha limits Congress’s ability to terminate, review, disapprove, or otherwise respond to a presidential national-emergency declaration affecting federal elections.
7. Communications, memoranda, legal analyses, opinions, drafts, briefing materials, talking points, referrals, or correspondence concerning the foregoing subjects involving the Office of the Solicitor General, Office of Legal Counsel, Office of the Attorney General, Office of the Deputy Attorney General, Office of Legislative Affairs, or Office of Legal Policy, including communications with the White House or other federal agencies.

Search Terms

To facilitate a reasonably targeted electronic search, suggested terms include:

“INS v. Chadha” OR “Chadha”
AND/OR
“national emergency”
“National Emergencies Act”
“emergency powers”
“election emergency”
“2026 election”
“midterm election”
“voter ID”
“proof of citizenship”
“mail ballot”
“mail-in ballot”
“absentee ballot”
“Elections Clause”
“Article I Section 4”
“State Citizenship List”
“USPS”
“Postal Service”

This request is prompted by current public discussion specifically asserting that INS v. Chadha provides or protects presidential authority to declare a national emergency and thereafter impose federal election requirements without additional congressional legislation. The request therefore concerns an identifiable and presently significant question of federal executive authority.

Please construe this request to seek existing records reflecting the government’s consideration of that issue, rather than an agency response to the underlying legal question.

If potentially responsive material is withheld under the deliberative-process, attorney-client, attorney-work-product, classified-information, or other exemptions, please release all reasonably segregable nonexempt portions and identify the applicable exemption for each withholding.

Electronic production is preferred. Rolling production is acceptable.

Please associate this request, where administratively appropriate, with my existing DOJ/OSG FOIA correspondence concerning federal election, citizenship, and related constitutional issues, while assigning a separate tracking number if required by agency procedure.

Thank you.

Respectfully submitted,

/S/ Harold William Van Allen
John Jay Judicial Integrity Committee