The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced on Thursday that it is evaluating the expenses associated with a federal election observer program designed to address race discrimination in voting.
OPM said that, in consultation with the Justice Department, it is examining whether the program's costs - which were about $2.5 million in 2025 - are justified and whether the program should be reformed.
The agency emphasized that the observer effort is limited in scope. It is deployed only in situations where the U.S. attorney general has received a "written meritorious complaint" alleging race discrimination in voting, according to OPM.
OPM also noted that the current federal observer program operates in locations where court orders have been issued. At present, those locations include Union County, New Jersey; Pawtucket, Rhode Island; and two areas in Alaska.
The program's parameters reflect a narrower federal role in monitoring voting practices than existed prior to a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision in a case involving Shelby County, Alabama. That ruling removed a Voting Rights Act provision that had required certain states and local jurisdictions with histories of racial discrimination to obtain federal approval before changing voting laws.
OPM's statement reiterated the statutory and judicial context for the observer program, noting the role of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as a key legislative achievement of the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
The disclosure that OPM is reassessing the program's finances follows media reporting that the White House is considering ending funding for the election observer initiative intended to protect minority voting rights. The White House directed inquiries to the Justice Department. A Justice Department spokesperson, cited in that reporting, said the department has no plans to terminate its separate election monitoring program within the civil rights division.
The review unfolds as attention to election administration is heightened ahead of the November midterm elections. President Donald Trump’s Republican Party currently holds a narrow majority in both chambers of Congress, and the president has publicly urged Republican lawmakers to pursue voting restrictions prior to the elections.
OPM's evaluation with the Justice Department is focused on whether the program's 2025 expenditures are warranted and whether structural changes should be pursued; the agency did not announce any immediate decisions.