Alito says litigation and the Court’s own timetable contributed to the delay; Trump sharply criticizes the ruling.
by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief
(Worthy News) – The Supreme Court has refused to let the U.S. Postal Service enforce new rules for mailing federal election ballots this fall, leaving a lower court’s injunction in place as states prepare for the November midterms.
The Sept. 14 order denied the administration’s emergency request to lift that injunction. It did not settle every question about the Postal Service’s authority to regulate ballot mail. For the approaching election, however, the new rule remains blocked.
Issued after a March executive order, the rule would have required special ballot envelopes, including a unique voter barcode. States also would have had to submit voter information through a Postal Service portal. Ballot mail that failed the new requirements could have been returned to election officials. The administration argued that the changes would strengthen election security; states challenging the rule said they could not reasonably put them in place so close to voting. The Court’s order describes those requirements.
Alito disputes who caused the delay
Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, would have allowed the rule to take effect. In his dissent, Alito argued that the states challenging the rule and the courts bore a substantial share of responsibility for its late arrival.
He singled out the Supreme Court’s earlier timetable, writing that it spent nearly a month preparing opinions, including two dissents, while the government was waiting to issue its final rule. The states and courts, he wrote, were “responsible for so much of the delay.”
Alito’s criticism pointed in part to dissents by the Court’s liberal justices. He did not say they deliberately stalled the case to prevent the rule from taking effect.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh reached a different conclusion about this election. He wrote that the rule might fall within the Postal Service’s authority, but that state and local officials lacked enough time to implement it reasonably before the 2026 vote. His concurrence leaves the underlying authority question open.
Trump responds
Trump attacked the decision in a Truth Social post Tuesday, calling it a “bad decision” and praising Alito and Thomas as “legends.” He also criticized the time the courts took to rule, then said of justices he had appointed, “These are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court.” His remarks were also reported by the Associated Press.
The immediate result is clear for election officials and voters: the new Postal Service ballot-mail requirements cannot be enforced under the injunction for this year’s midterms. The broader legal fight over the rule may continue after Election Day.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
