D.C. Circuit
Federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., with primary jurisdiction over challenges to federal agency action.
On 4 September, the D.C. Circuit kept the modified SAVE database offline after finding the government raised its main statutory argument too late.
Last refreshed: 24 September 2026
Timeline for D.C. Circuit
Mentioned in: NAACP sues DHS over ICE at the polls
US Midterms 2026Refused a stay reviving the modified SAVE database
US Midterms 2026: D.C. Circuit keeps SAVE database offlineBackground
The D.C. Circuit is a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. It hears appeals from the US District Court for the District of Columbia and reviews many disputes involving federal agencies. Its 4 September ruling on the SAVE database illustrates why its decisions can affect national administrative action.
Because federal agencies are based in Washington, challenges to their rules, orders and rulemaking often reach this court. Its docket therefore has a strong administrative and regulatory law focus, unlike regional circuits whose work is more heavily shaped by criminal and diversity cases.
the Court has 11 authorised judgeships. Its place in the federal judiciary makes it a recurring forum for disputes over how executive agencies use powers granted by Congress.
The court rejects late argument
On 4 September, a divided panel of the D.C. Circuit declined to put DHS's revised bulk-citizenship-check tool, the modified SAVE database, back online. By a two-to-one margin, the judges held that the government's central statutory argument came too late to be considered, arriving only once judgment had already been entered.
For the Court, the decision places procedural discipline at the centre of a dispute over federal access to voter-related data. It also keeps this challenge within the D.C. Circuit's familiar role as a venue for reviewing actions by Washington-based agencies.