Power Grab/Fire anyone who can stop him
The Supreme Court refuses 7–2 to let the Postal Service’s ballot-mail rule take effect for the midterms, saying the government “is unlikely to succeed on the merits”
The unsigned order closes the Postal Service route for this election.
What happened
In an unsigned order on the night of September 14, 2026, the Supreme Court denied, 7–2, the government’s request to let the Postal Service’s ballot-mail rule take effect for the 2026 elections. It wrote that “the Government is unlikely to succeed on the merits.” Justices Alito and Thomas dissented. Justice Kavanaugh concurred, noting officials lacked time to implement the rule.
The rule, finalized August 26, would have let USPS refuse to deliver ballots to voters not on a state-submitted list. It also imposed envelope and barcode standards that most states could not meet before November.
Judge Indira Talwani ruled September 9 that no statute lets USPS regulate election mail, and the First Circuit refused to stay her on September 10. A brief from more than three dozen election officials, including Republican secretaries of state, had opposed the rule.
Who benefited
Voters who use the mail, roughly a third of the electorate in recent federal elections, keep their ballots moving. State and local officials who run mail voting told the Court the rule would have thrown their operations into chaos weeks before the election.
Who wanted something
Trump, who has called mail voting fraudulent since 2020, wanted the rule, and the Postal Service was implementing his order. Postmaster General David Steiner, his appointee, issued it. The administration’s Supreme Court strategy had assumed an emergency-docket win.
Who lost out
The administration lost the signature election move of 2026 by a lopsided margin on a Court it built. Trump told TIME two weeks later that he regretted appointing Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett.
Why it matters
The Postal Service pathway is closed for this election. That is a clear outcome from a Court that has often sided with the administration on emergency applications. The vote was 7–2, and the Court said the law was not on the government’s side.
Sources Supreme Court of the United States (primary)VotebeatDemocracy DocketWashington State Attorney General (primary)