DOJ seizes on Supreme Court decision to press case for Trump mail voting order

President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice (DOJ) is trying to ram the administration’s anti-mail voting rule over the finish line for November. 

Late Monday, the DOJ filed a motion asking U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani to lift a nationwide block on moving forward a final United States Postal Service (USPS) rule, set to publish Wednesday morning, implementing part of Trump’s executive order.  

DOJ’s motion sought to capitalize on a temporary win from the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court on Monday lifted a district court order that blocked the rule’s implementation for 23 states and the District of Columbia. 

DOJ argued that in light of the high court’s ruling, Talwani should now vacate the preliminary injunction blocking the administration from moving forward.

“The Court’s preliminary-injunction order in this case should now be vacated or stayed following the Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. California,” DOJ lawyers wrote. 

DOJ also argued, in opposition to pro-voting groups’ motion to block publication of the USPS rule, that the rule does not run counter to Talwani’s injunction because the injunction only enforces changes up to and during the midterms.

“It is that simple: because the Final Rule (at least currently) applies only to future elections, it does not violate this Court’s preliminary injunction order, which applied to elections on or before November 3, 2026,” the DOJ stated.

Talwani had barred the Trump administration from implementing the mail ballot provisions for any election on or before Nov. 3. The DOJ argued that USPS issuing the final rule did not violate that order because it only applied to future elections on Nov. 3 or after and would only take effect provided the judicial injunctions were lifted.

The rule would create a national tracking system for votes cast by mail. And it would undermine state authority over election administration by requiring states to make envelope design changes in the next 70 days or risk having their voters not receive a mail ballot.

The DOJ argued that the decision should also apply to the nationwide injunction set by Talwani.

It claimed it’s now up to pro-voting advocates to challenge the rule on the merits — something that’s expected to happen imminently. 

“If Plaintiffs want to challenge the Final Rule, they can amend their complaint to do so, but an order purporting to “enforce” the preliminary-injunction in this case would be both unnecessary and improper,” the department wrote.

The DOJ claimed that because USPS will not officially publish the rule until Wednesday, it’s not “actually finalized by an agency.”

Pro-voting plaintiffs will respond to the DOJ by 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.