Eric Holder and Janet Napolitano have cried “uncle”. He is throwing in the towel on a legal challenge against Governor Rick Scott (R-FL).Governor Scott’s team down in Florida discovered a large number of people on the voter rolls who were not eligible to vote in Florida. They then discovered that more than a thousand of those people had actually voted in Florida elections.The next step was logical. The Florida state government began removing people from the list of voters who did not belong there. Eric Holder filed a suit to stop it. At the same time, Governor Scott insisted Florida be given access to a federal database that Florida could use to cross reference its voter rolls.The feds had refused.Then the feds lost their case against Florida in federal court.Now the feds have completely caved to Governor Scott.

In a victory for Republicans, the federal government has agreed to let Florida use a law enforcement database to challenge people’s right to vote if they are suspected of not being U.S. citizens.The agreement, made in a letter to Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s administration that was obtained by The Associated Press, grants the state access to a list of resident noncitizens maintained by the Homeland Security Department. The Obama administration had denied Florida’s request for months but relented after a judge ruled in the state’s favor in a related voter-purge matter.

Anybody who knows Governor Scott knows he has an unrelenting tenacity. Good for him that he refused to cut a deal or walk away on this. Polling in Florida suggests that this push of his is more popular than he is as Governor. But if he keeps racking up wins like this, I have no doubt his personal popularity will go up too. This is a big win.