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A federal appellate panel on Saturday rejected the Trump administration’s request to lift a lower court’s injunction blocking the U.S. Postal Service from enforcing President Donald Trump’s March executive order targeting mail-in ballots as part of Republicans’ broader attack on voting rights.
A three-judge panel of the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 against a motion by the administration seeking a pause on U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani’s June order blocking major portions of Trump’s directive, which is aimed at restricting postal voting, including by directing the USPS to ensure that mailed ballots have unique barcodes and envelope logos.
“Under the Constitution, state and local officials are responsible for administering federal elections,” Judges Gustavo Gelpí and Julie Rikelman — both appointed by former President Joe Biden — wrote in a joint opinion. “In the spring of 2026, President Trump issued an executive order with nationwide effects on how state and local officials can administer federal elections, including the upcoming primary and general elections in September and November. In particular, the executive order directed substantial involvement by the United States Postal Service in deciding which ballots sent to and from voters would be delivered.”
Judge Joshua Dunlap, a Trump appointee, partially dissented from the majority. The decision applies to the 23 states and District of Columbia that filed a lawsuit challenging the executive order.
The ruling also focuses on the executive order’s threats to criminally punish any state or local officials who refuse to comply. Under the order, the USPS would only send mail ballots to states that send their unredacted voter files to [the U.S. Department of Homeland Security], which would approve voter eligibility via a national voter registration database. This is an unprecedented federal incursion into states’ exclusive power to determine voter eligibility as deemed by the U.S. Constitution.
Saturday’s ruling comes just over three weeks after Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia halted the USPS’ implementation of Trump’s executive order. Sullivan granted a request by the NAACP to enforce a 2021 settlement agreement requiring the USPS to protect mail-in voting and prioritize delivery of mail related to elections through 2028.
That decision followed a June ruling by Chief U.S. District Judge Denise Casper in Massachusetts that blocked portions of the president’s order requiring people to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
Trump’s March order is part of a broader attack on voting rights that includes pushing an updated version of Republicans’ so-called SAVE America Act, which would mandate proof of citizenship and strict photo ID requirements to register to vote in federal elections. The legislation, which was passed by the House of Representatives in February, is stalled in the narrowly split Senate, where it lacks the support of 60 lawmakers needed to avoid a Democrat filibuster.
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