A federal judge has stopped the US Postal Service from enforcing President Donald Trump’s mail ballot order nationwide, ruling that the agency’s proposed plan conflicts with an earlier legal settlement. The decision raises a fresh barrier to Trump’s effort to reshape how mail ballots move through the postal system.
The ruling came from US District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington, DC, after the Postal Service sought to implement Trump’s executive order by limiting ballot delivery to states that met certain federal requirements. CNN reported that a Boston judge had already blocked the policy in two dozen states, but Sullivan’s order now extends that pause across the country.
What the judge said
Sullivan said the Postal Service could not follow the executive order in the way it proposed because that would break the terms of a 2021 settlement tied to a 2020 lawsuit brought by the NAACP. That agreement required USPS to publish guidance on how it would prioritize “the monitoring and timely delivery of Election Mail.”
In the Wednesday opinion, Sullivan wrote that ballots would not be delivered to voters if they were deemed noncompliant with the executive order’s requirements. He said that approach would violate the settlement because USPS cannot claim it is prioritizing election mail while also refusing to accept or deliver certain ballots.
| Issue | USPS Proposed Plan | Judge’s Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Ballot delivery | Deliver only if state rules meet the executive order’s conditions | Not allowed under the settlement |
| State compliance lists | Block mailing ballots where states do not certify a list | Conflicts with USPS duties under the agreement |
| Election mail guidance | Publish rules that would exclude some ballots | Violates the promise to prioritize timely delivery |
Why the order matters
Trump’s March 2026 order would have given the federal government a larger role in elections, including access to more voter data. It also directed the Department of Homeland Security to use federal databases to build lists of voting-age citizens in each state, a move that has fueled concern about aggressive voter purges.
The order would also require individualized barcodes on mail ballot envelopes for automated tracking. While that is widely viewed as a good election administration practice, many jurisdictions could struggle with the cost of making the change.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson welcomed the ruling and called it “another major blow to Donald Trump’s attempt to rig the election.” He added, “The President is failing, and the people are winning.”
USPS has not yet commented on the ruling, and CNN said it had reached out to the agency for comment. The case now stands as a significant setback to the administration’s effort to tie ballot delivery to new federal conditions.
