As Ohio secretary of state, Jon Husted was the petitioner in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute, the case in which the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in 2018 that Ohio may keep removing voters who skip elections and do not return a mailed notice; a Reuters analysis had found at least 144,000 voters had been removed in Ohio's three largest counties.
As a senator, Husted voted to confirm Solicitor General John Sauer, whose office won emergency Supreme Court orders for the administration, including the ruling that ended protected status for Haitians in Ohio; Pam Bondi, whose department kept deportation flights going after a judge ordered them halted; and, with a deciding vote, Todd Blanche, whose department a federal judge found had violated the Epstein files law.
Jon Husted's Supreme Court Case and the Justice Department Officials He Confirmed
- Husted Took Ohio's Voter-Removal Process to the Supreme Court and Won in 2018. As Ohio secretary of state, Husted was the petitioner, JON HUSTED, OHIO SECRETARY OF STATE, PETITIONER v. A. PHILIP RANDOLPH INSTITUTE, defending Ohio's "Supplemental Process," under which voters who skip two years get a notice and those who do not return it and fail to vote in any election for four more years are presumed to have moved and are removed from the rolls. On June 11, 2018, the Court ruled 5-4 that Ohio's process is accordingly lawful, reversing a Sixth Circuit ruling against it. Before the ruling, a Reuters analysis found at least 144,000 voters had been removed in Ohio's three largest counties, with voters in Democratic-leaning neighborhoods removed at about twice the rate of those in Republican-leaning ones, NBC News reported.
- Husted Voted to Confirm the Solicitor General Who Won 26 Emergency Orders for the Administration. On April 3, 2025, Husted voted to confirm D. John Sauer as solicitor general, the Justice Department's lawyer before the Supreme Court, and he was confirmed 52 to 45. Of 35 shadow-docket decisions on the administration's actions, 26 ruled for the administration at least partially, according to the Brennan Center, including Mullin v. Doe, on whether DHS can end the TPS designations relating to Syrian and Haitian nationals. The Court also ruled in Trump v. CASA, argued by Sauer's office, that universal injunctions likely exceed the equitable authority that Congress gave federal courts.
- Husted Voted to Confirm Pam Bondi, Whose Justice Department Kept Deportation Flights Going and Then Filed a Complaint Against the Judge. On February 4, 2025, Husted voted to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general. In March 2025 Alien Enemies Act deportation flights continued after Chief Judge James Boasberg ordered them halted, and he later found that probable cause exists to find the government in criminal contempt, an inquiry the full D.C. Circuit is reviewing after it vacated a divided panel's April 14, 2026 order ending the inquiry and agreed on June 22, 2026 to rehear the case, and no one has been held in contempt. Boasberg also ruled that the men deported on those flights were denied due process, NPR reported. In July 2025 Bondi's department filed a misconduct complaint against Boasberg, and an appeals judge dismissed it, faulting the department for failing to provide "sufficient evidence".
- Husted Cast One of the 50 Votes That Confirmed Todd Blanche, Whose Department a Judge Found in Violation of the Epstein Files Law. Husted voted to confirm Todd Blanche as deputy attorney general on March 5, 2025 and as attorney general on August 8, 2026, when the vote was 50 to 49 and the nomination would have failed without him. In June 2026 a federal judge found the department under Blanche had likely violated the terms of the Epstein Files Transparency Act and wrote that "The Attorney General has conceded that he is in violation of the Act".
What the Court Fights Jon Husted Is Responsible For Mean for Ohio
- Haitians in Ohio. After the Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling in the case Sauer's office brought, an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 Haitian immigrants in the Springfield area faced the loss of their legal status, which ended in late July 2026.
- Voters removed. The Supplemental Process Husted defended remained in force after the 2018 ruling. From November 2014 to November 2016 alone, the state removed 426,781 names from voter rolls for failing to answer a confirmation notice or vote, according to federal Election Assistance Commission data.
Frequently Asked Questions About Jon Husted on Courts and judges
What is Jon Husted's record on the courts under Trump?
Jon Husted voted to confirm the solicitor general whose office won 26 of 35 emergency Supreme Court decisions at least in part, the attorney general whose department kept deportation flights going after a judge ordered them halted, and, with a deciding vote, Todd Blanche, whose department a judge found had violated the Epstein files law. As Ohio secretary of state, Husted won his own Supreme Court case to keep removing infrequent voters from Ohio's rolls.
What was the Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute case?
Jon Husted, then Ohio secretary of state, was the named petitioner in the 2018 Supreme Court case over Ohio's practice of removing voters who skip elections and do not answer a mailed notice. The Court ruled 5-4 for Husted on June 11, 2018, holding that the process does not violate the Failure-to-Vote Clause of the National Voter Registration Act.
Did Jon Husted vote to confirm the judge Emil Bove?
Yes. Jon Husted voted to confirm Emil Bove to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals on July 29, 2025, and the vote was 50 to 49, so Bove would not have been confirmed without Husted's vote. Before the vote, NPR reported that Bove, as a Justice Department official, had ordered the firing of a group of prosecutors involved in those Jan. 6 criminal cases.
Last updated: 2026-10-25