Trump administration asks Supreme Court to freeze block on USPS mail ballot rule

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to freeze a lower court order blocking a Postal Service rule that would restrict who can receive a mail ballot in the 2026 midterms. Solicitor General D. John Sauer filed the emergency application, and the justices gave the states challenging the rule until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, September 8, to respond.

The rule at issue requires state election officials to upload the names and addresses of every mail-ballot recipient to a Postal Service portal, which compiles the data into state-specific “Mail-In and Absentee Participation Lists.” The Postal Service would deliver ballots only to voters on an approved list, and every outbound and return envelope would carry a trackable barcode. The requirements stem from Executive Order 14399, which President Trump signed on March 31.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, based in Boston, issued a temporary restraining order on August 27 blocking enforcement of the envelope-design and voter-list provisions for 14 days while she considers a permanent injunction sought by California and 23 other states plus the District of Columbia. CBS News reported that Talwani found the states “likely to succeed” in arguing the Postal Service lacked constitutional authority to issue the regulation, writing that “the court is unaware of, and no party has proffered, any delegation Congress has made that would permit the USPS to regulate election mail.” She also wrote that the states face “irreparable harm…for which compliance is practically impossible,” noting that “most Plaintiff States have already ordered their mail ballots, and some are required by state law to send them to eligible voters as early as next week.”

In the application to the Supreme Court, Sauer characterized the rule as imposing “only modest envelope-design and addressee-information requirements” on federal election ballots, according to SCOTUSblog. He warned that North Carolina and Alabama would begin sending ballots to voters as soon as September 4, and asked the Court for an administrative stay putting Talwani’s order on hold while the justices consider the government’s full request.

This is not the first time the dispute has reached the Supreme Court. On August 24, the Court lifted an earlier injunction Talwani had issued in June on narrow procedural grounds, allowing the Postal Service to proceed at that time, though the Court did not rule on whether the underlying order was constitutional. Talwani’s August 27 order followed the Postal Service’s move to implement the rule after that ruling.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, one of the state officials challenging the rule, said of the prospect of the rule taking effect: “Over my dead body is that rule going to go into effect.”

The Postal Service’s final rule also requires states to submit voter data covering ballots sent under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, and gives states the ability to “routinely supplement and provide suggested modifications or amendments” to the approved-voter lists after they are submitted. The Trump administration has argued in court filings that the Postal Service is acting within its legal authority to ensure the smooth conduct of the election.

The Supreme Court has not yet said when it will rule on the administration’s request for a stay. Its order sets the states’ response deadline for the morning of September 8.