The Trump administration has secured a temporary court victory in its push for greater federal oversight of mail-in voting. A unanimous three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit paused a lower-court order that had stopped the U.S. Postal Service from pursuing the proposed policy.
The ruling does not allow the policy to take effect yet. A separate federal injunction issued in Massachusetts remains in place, continuing to block the Postal Service from implementing the rule.
Two Court Orders, Different Effects
| Court Action | What It Did | Current Effect |
|---|---|---|
| D.C. Circuit appeals ruling | Put a lower-court order on hold | Temporary win for the Trump administration |
| Massachusetts injunction | Blocked the proposed Postal Service policy | Still prevents the rule from taking effect |
The proposed rule would require states to provide lists of approved voters and would impose stricter requirements involving mail-in ballots. Under the plan, the Postal Service could refuse to deliver ballots for states that do not provide the requested voter information.
Postmaster General David Steiner described that position during testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last month. Asked whether ballots would still be mailed if a state refused to provide its absentee voter list, Steiner said, “Under our proposed regulation, no. We would tell the state that we need the manifest.”
The NAACP brought the lawsuit challenging the policy. The organization had also sued the Postal Service in 2020 over mail-in ballot delivery delays before that year’s presidential election.
That earlier dispute ended in a 2021 settlement requiring the Postal Service to prioritize the timely delivery of Election Mail for every national election through 2028. The D.C. Circuit concluded that the current lawsuit is likely premature because the proposed rule has not been finalized and is not covered by that settlement, according to abcnews.com.
The appeals panel also found that the administration could face irreparable harm if the Postal Service cannot finalize and implement the rule in time for the midterms. “In this context, ‘there can be no do over’ once the election occurs,” the ruling said.
The Massachusetts order means the legal fight remains unresolved despite the D.C. Circuit’s intervention. The decision nevertheless indicates that the administration may seek similar relief in other appeals courts as the challenges continue.