Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday declined to rule out the possibility that the Justice Department could seek to intervene in states' certification of midterm election results, citing a hypothetical "doomsday scenario." He spoke to reporters in Norfolk, Virginia, and said it was not his intention to "improperly interfere with elections."

"Of course, there's scenarios that we can all come up with hypothetically, you know, some doomsday scenario, for example, right?" Blanche said, according to Fox News. He added that it would not be proper to make "conclusory statements about what's going to happen in the future." Asked whether there were no circumstances in which the department would get involved, he said: "Of course, I'm not going to say that. But am I planning my days around the election to be somewhere to not certify? Of course not."

Blanche had traveled to Norfolk with FBI Director Kash Patel for a news conference announcing racketeering charges against an 82-year-old Virginia state senator, NBC News reported. At that event he was pressed about the department's litigation against states. He said the DOJ was "not trying to create chaos" but wanted to alert officials to potential problems. "I'm not trying to not have an election certified. Of course not," he said. "What we're trying to do is guarantee to the American people that the only people that are voting are people that are eligible to vote."

The Justice Department's role in elections is limited under the Constitution and federal law, chiefly to safeguarding civil rights and prosecuting election-law violations, according to both Fox News and NBC News. Elections are run by state and local officials, who certify results. NBC News reported that no U.S. laws say the department can challenge ballots or delay certification, though private citizens and candidates can sue to challenge ballots or results.

The administration last week sued California election officials, arguing they did not act quickly enough to review names the federal government identified as likely noncitizens. The DOJ asked a judge to bar the state from counting mail-in ballots from those individuals unless their eligibility could be confirmed. California's secretary of state's office said it was given 48 hours to review roughly 20,000 names; NBC News put the number of registered voters at 18,000. NBC News reported the department is weighing more election-related litigation against states.

Fox News reported that a federal judge this week temporarily restricted certain election-related field operations and interviews in nine states through Election Day, and stayed the order until Friday evening so the administration could appeal. Democratic leaders and election groups also filed a lawsuit earlier this week accusing the administration of "threats and intimidation."

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Senate Democrats "have been preparing for this for months and will be ready" for whatever administration officials try. "As Trump and his cronies attempt to steal this election, we are fighting them at every turn," he posted on X. President Donald Trump has repeatedly called noncitizen voting a serious threat, though documented cases in federal elections have historically been rare, Fox News reported.