r/law • u/templeofsyrinx1 • 1d ago
Executive Branch (Trump) Trump administration files emergency application in the Supreme Court to Allow Mail Voting Restrictions
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/06/us/politics/trump-mail-in-voting-supreme-court.html?unlocked_article_code=1._FA.t-1s.fZUVegdmV0Hd&smid=url-share•
u/templeofsyrinx1 1d ago
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who handles emergency applications from the region of the country where the case originated, set a schedule that signaled the court would handle it on a swift, but not immediate, timeline.
Justice Jackson called for responses from the groups challenging the Trump administration rules by Wednesday at 4 p.m. She made no mention of the administration’s request that the justices allow the Postal Service rules to go into effect while they consider the case. That means that, at least for now, the administration is blocked from putting its plan into action.
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u/Plaguedoctorsrevenge 1d ago
She should schedule it for after 2029
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u/GammaFan 1d ago
Schedule it for September 75th
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u/Grand_Recipe_9072 1d ago
October 23, 2077
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u/mercurysong 23h ago
A lot of apocalypse predictions have happened on 23 October. Great way to celebrate my birthday 😂 I think 9 of the past 10 years have been end of the world celebrations lol
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u/Embarrassed-Brain655 1d ago
She should but she won’t.
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u/BoomZhakaLaka 1d ago
She is making sure that a renewed application doesn't put this issue on the shadow docket. It's about the only thing in her power to do
(A plaintiff who doesn't like the way their application was handled can renew the application with any justice of their choice. In normal times this just usually didn't work because the supreme court used to guard its public image)
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u/UtahUtopia 1d ago
Can she be as partisan as her conservative colleagues?
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u/Swimming_Bonus_8892 1d ago
Ok, progressive Creole here with a La state education. Can you break this down for a normie? Does this mean they can’t mess with the mail in voting like they have been trying to? Thanks, I’m just trying to learn.
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u/groveborn 1d ago
They can.
It's not exactly legal, but there are no consequences for doing it. If there were, those consequences would be federal.
Trump has both the power to say do not prosecute and to pardon.
There is zero recourse.
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u/Wakkit1988 1d ago
No, the consequences aren't just federal. States are well within their rights to go after individuals, even federal employees, for committing election interference. Them being federal does not protect them at all as these actions are wholly illegal, negating the supremacy clause. All postal workers should be very leery of complying.
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u/Superb-Farmer1411 1d ago
It would be a good idea for states to threaten any state level USPS employees with election interference or election fraud if they participate in the Trump's illegal moves. If plant managers, supervisors, and postmasters fear being prosecuted at the state level, they will be less likely to implement his election stealing plan.
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u/groveborn 1d ago
Supremacy clause, and the president said so. They must obey. More, the supreme Court already ruled that there are no civil pathways for undelivered mail.
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u/Wakkit1988 1d ago
Firstly, USPS is not subject to Executive Orders, they are only subject to Congress as per the constitution.
Secondly, what they are doing is federally illegal, which negates any protections granted by the supremacy clause.
Unless Congress passes legislation allowing what they are doing, states can take action against individuals for interfering with elections. Federal employees do not gain any protection by claiming that they are just following orders, they are legally allowed to refuse them, and following them makes them individually responsible.
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u/groveborn 1d ago
They are subject to executive orders. They are a branch under the executive branch.
All laws are subject to the executive branch - they're who executes the laws. Congress makes laws, they don't execute them.
If Congress makes a law the president can decide how to distribute the limited resources to fill the law.
Quite simply, "votes are not important. Deliver them last", is a legal directive. And the states have no power to enforce federal law, which is where the supremacy clause comes in.
Illegal or not, the states don't have power to regulate the post office - end of debate.
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u/Wakkit1988 1d ago
They are subject to executive orders. They are a branch under the executive branch.
No, they are not subject to Executive Orders. Period. We're not arguing over this because this an objective fact and you are objectively wrong. Any power the Executive has over the USPS is granted by Congress, but Congress has never ceded absolutely authority to the Executive. The constitution places it under Congress's unilateral authority.
You should read the arguments the administration has made in their motions, even they know they can't order it, and are saying that the PMG is doing it of their own volition in agreeance with the administration. You are factually wrong, and everything else you wrote isn't even worth reading. You're hung up on the wrong thing.
Educate yourself on this specific topic, the USPS is wholly unique agency within the government and shares very little with the rest.
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u/Superb-Farmer1411 1d ago
Exactly. This guy has no idea what he's talking about when it comes to either elections or the post office. There's a reason why it has a board of governors and the president can only nominate the members, and not actually appoint them. The PMG is also not supposed to answer to the president. He is supposed to answer to the board of governors. The president can neither appoint nor fire the PMG. The guy currently in there only obeys him due to corruption and disregard for the law.
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u/blister-in-the-pun 1d ago
Thank you! Reading this ridiculous thread has been infuriating. Donald Trump and his executive administration are not legally allowed to do this. Period. It’s why he’s lost 96 cases trying to mettle with elections and voting. groveborn is objectively wrong about this and is confidently so which is ridiculous.
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u/Superb-Farmer1411 1d ago
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is an independent establishment of the executive branch, meaning it is not automatically subject to presidential executive orders in the same way traditional, cabinet-level executive departments are.
Independent Agency Status
- Congressional Creation: Congress established the USPS as an independent agency under the Postal Reorganization Act. [1, 2]
- Regulatory Exemption: The Postal Service is exempt from many standard federal administrative rules, such as the Federal Acquisition Regulation that governs regular executive agency purchases. [1]
- Statutory Limits: The President cannot unilaterally command an independent agency to enforce external directives that conflict with its governing statutes or exceed its constitutional authority.
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u/groveborn 1d ago
You're forgetting how the current majority party interprets the article 2 thing.
And there was a Supreme Court ruling on the president being able to direct his branch. Nobody in the Executive is able to ignore the president. He's head of the branch. It doesn't matter what the laws below the constitutional level say - he's their supreme leader.
But let's ignore that.
The current head of the USPS listens to him. It doesn't matter if they're legally separate - and this doesn't exist in today's America, it's just gone. Ruled away by the court THIS YEAR. Their branch head listens to the president.
And he CONSTANTLY exceeds his governing statutes. The only people who have power to stop him are the ones enabling him. The states do not have power to stop him.
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u/Superb-Farmer1411 1d ago
Doesn't matter. States just need to do it anyway. And the president is a lying criminal. The Post Office doesn't answer to the president, anyway.
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u/groveborn 1d ago
You and I might believe that it doesn't, but the postmaster general does. They most definitely answer to him.
And the post offices are federal property.
That means the FBI gets to investigate. And they won't. The states couldn't even tell who was responsible, nor completely testimony. It would be a toothless law.
The president being a criminal and a liar won't matter if the law is simply on his side. This requires several conditional amendments to fix so it can't ever happen again - this and all of the other things.
But the Congress is broken, too, so no to that. In the end, Trump made himself right when he said we can't trust mail in ballots, because he's made it so.
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u/Superb-Farmer1411 1d ago
The law is definitely not on his side. The highest law of the land, the Constitution, gives states sole authority over their elections. The only exception to that is the when Congress makes a law. Only then does federal law supersede state election law. The president has no role in that process other than to sign a bill Congress passes. You must be reading some other country's constitution if you think anything he's doing is legal. It's not the law of the land, so it is illegal.
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u/Swimming_Bonus_8892 1d ago
Ok I’m sorry to keep asking, can you explain?
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u/groveborn 1d ago
Sure, easy stuff. The federal laws supercede state laws. If the postmaster general says, "don't deliver these kinds of letters", that's a federal crime. It can't be a state crime. He's a federal officer who listens to the president.
The president says don't deliver the votes. He has the power to both command and pardon. He can even just say "don't investigate" and the FBI won't.
He can literally just not deliver them until after the due date. Nothing is guaranteed to be delivered, there are no consequences if they don't (supreme Court ruled on that this year).
A state cannot force the post office to do anything. They're federal.
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u/Training_Fun_9162 1d ago
It means a massive, unrecoverable constitutional crisis now hinges only on Donald Trump’s ability to take a loss.
It’s going to be a rigged election, followed by riots, death, and collapse.
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u/Swimming_Bonus_8892 1d ago
Ok so you’re saying she struck down what he was trying to do and the ball is in his court and with his past inabilities to take any kind of loss he’s going to pull some illegal shit?
For my own understanding, with this ruling will he have to break the law to achieve his goal? I apologize, I’m not trying to be obtuse at all, they seem to be overloading us with so much disinformation/legalese that I’m just trying to understand what’s actually happening?
- a concerned citizen
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u/bvierra 1d ago
So she asked for a response from the other side (the one that won in the lower courts and asked for the rules from the govt to be stopped. The govt asked for the Supreme Court to put the block against the rules to be stopped until the Supreme Court rules on the issue (so to allow the post office to continue with Trumps plan), however Justice Jackson just ignored that part, which in this case means that she denied their request.
So as of right now the USPS cannot continue with what Trump has asked them to do, the other side has their response due on Wed, and then we will get another ruling of what will happen
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u/Consistent_Pop9217 1d ago
I agree that this whole thing is nuts, but it’s not going to have the effect they want. If the USPS is allowed to continue this it will motivate people to vote in person. It will end up back firing. This affects rural voters way more than urban. Many people like myself vote by mail for convenience, but I do know where my polling place is and I’m gonna be there.
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u/Training_Fun_9162 23h ago
It will motivate some - but that number will be far less than it should be.
That difference will be more than enough to flip the election. They’ll retain enough power to implement the worst parts of their agenda, leading to unrest. They’ll abdicate more of their constitutional power to the executive, the executive will do some wildly unconstitutional things, and that’s when the collapse/riots/death part starts.
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u/Interesting_Berry439 1d ago
Death maga for sure....perhaps the rest of America too.
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u/Training_Fun_9162 23h ago
It’s practically baked in at this point. I cannot see anyone capable of rising to the moment, as the task is monumental.
Not only does America need to reject this political movement outright (that’s the easy part), they need to do the hard part of holding them accountable and restoring our laws.
It would end up looking like a political purge if done correctly - and I don’t think that is possible right now with the disinformation machine running at 120% efficiency.
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u/FractalNobility 23h ago
Landry, dear leader of Louisiana Y'all Qaeda Nat-Cs will employ every measure he's able to suppress the turn out, and unless it's overturned by courts, the results would stand.
I would like to conclude that LA or Federal courts would shut it down. I would like to conclude that, but unfortunately the facts in evidence suggest the exact opposite.
Vote, and give a friend a ride!
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u/templeofsyrinx1 1d ago edited 1d ago
legal reasoning:
Judge Talwani found that lawyers for the Trump administration sought to “avoid” the separation of powers issue by “denying that the final rule is an election rule.” She added: “This denial rings hollow.”
She also dismissed arguments by the Trump administration that the Postal Service was acting under the authority of Congress, writing that “throughout its body of election legislation, Congress has never delegated its Elections Clause power to the USPS.”
She added that the Postal Service rule “clashes with Congress’s statutory scheme, and is unconstitutional where it intrudes not only on Congress’s elections clause powers but also that power left to the states.”
Mr. Sauer pushed back on Judge Talwani’s assessment in the brief to the justices, asserting that the Postal Service plan fell under the agency’s bounds to adopt rules “as may be necessary in the execution of its functions” and compared the rules for mail-in ballots to Postal Service “preparation requirements for the mailing of cremated remains and replica explosives.”\
There's just no way this passes, what a bunch of hogwash from the petitioners
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u/According_Hand6941 1d ago
rule of law collapsing before our eyes when separation of powers is written in the rules. the bar has become so sadly low. pun intended.
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u/Superb-Farmer1411 1d ago
compared the rules for mail-in ballots to Postal Service “preparation requirements for the mailing of cremated remains and replica explosives.
I didn't realize your name had to be on a list to send or receive cremated remains. I guess I must have missed that rule in my five years at the Post Office.
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u/HyperactivePandah 1d ago
Listen, they're not worried about the little details, they're just trying to make sure they can perpetually steal elections with the approval of the supreme court.
Go easy on em.
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u/applehead1776 1d ago
My wife's uncle died in a state where he had not lived and not where he wished to have his ashes end up. It was a bit of a nightmare to have them mailed to her, but she eventually got the clearance from the state they were sent from and the state they were sent to. I think it is to avoid crimes wherein the mail services are used to move body parts across state lines.
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u/MotherTurdHammer 1d ago
Hey folks, this is the "tread on me" part. You know, the flag, the very important "don't" at the beginning. You're not supposed to be cheering it on.
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1d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Training_Fun_9162 1d ago
Those same states are still pushing gun legislation that leaves everyone there largely disarmed and at a massive disadvantage with what is seemingly coming.
Time for an emergency rollback on this shit. People need to start arming up. Your kids are FAR less safe under this administration - or at least, what they’re GOING to do, than at public schools without these laws in effect.
If they’re withholding funds from these states and sending in ICE to terrorize communities, imagine what they’re gonna do when they don’t have to worry about elections anymore.
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u/therossboss 1d ago
A deleted account mentioning state's rights and abortion. That's not sus at all.
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u/DiggityDanksta 1d ago
I'm voting for God King Trump anyway, so this is fine
Besides, I've got my Trump-brand anti-leopard repellant spray and gold-plated protective facemask for when the end times come, like vice-God-King Vance says they're about to
libs = owned
/s
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u/RagahRagah 1d ago
They literally only care when it's them being treaded on. They are entirely self-absorbed people who only conceive of how their rights are affected.
In fact, they are so self-absorbed and ignorant that if someone else's rights conflict with something they want, they actually think their rights are being violated. They don't understand the concept of a two-way street.
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u/Asher_Tye 1d ago
What are the odds trump's lawyers failed to fill out the application correctly?
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u/Amonamission 1d ago
“Denied, try again”
“Denied, try again”
“Denied, try again”
“Received as procedurally complete. Denied.”
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u/Tall-Teacher3561 1d ago
That’s what happens when you appoint bunch of loyalists and incompetent “yes men” they’ll always fail, and now they’re running scared 🤣🤣!!!
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u/FuguSandwich 1d ago
Election Day is less than 2 months away, most states have already had their ballots printed, and some states have already mailed them to voters. Additionally, the USPS is in no position to thoroughly test and validate this new database/barcode system in time. A decision in favor of Trump by the SCOTUS is a decision in favor of widespread chaos and disenfranchisement.
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u/False_Energy_7290 1d ago
And that’s what worries me the most. A lot can happen between now and November.
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u/riki_grl 1d ago
This is the ultimate test of SCOTUS partisanship. Finding in favor of the regime means they are the regime.
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u/kon--- 1d ago
I'm ready for a judge, any judge, to tell that fuckwit that he swore to defend the US Constitution not use it line his shit filled adult diapers.
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u/BoobooSmash31337 1d ago
Best I can do is a chairman of the joint chiefs.
“We don’t take an oath to a king, or a queen, or to a tyrant or dictator, and we don’t take an oath to a wannabe dictator,” Milley said. “We don’t take an oath to an individual. We take an oath to the Constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that is America, and we’re willing to die to protect it.”
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u/Bleezy79 1d ago
Trump is the most anti American, most corrupt and least qualified president in US history.
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u/Python_07 1d ago
Can I file an Emergency Application to have Trump arrested, tried, convicted and jailed for crimes?
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u/TheModWhoShaggedMe 1d ago
Conservative Americans support crimes and treason from the highest levels of government (as long as the perpetrators are conservative). Otherwise, they would pressure their conservative (R) representation to overthrow this mad king wannabe dictatorship and ship of ghouls. I consider all U.S. conservatives derelict of duty as citizens until that occurs. Underestimate this regime further at all of our peril, know that is the choice you are making by ignoring this. The longer this goes, the worse the outcome is for all.
"Nip it, Andy, nip it in the bud!" --Barney Fife, a good police officer
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u/Leading-Branch-822 1d ago
The Supreme Court slow walking the Trump 'urgent' request still puts the Trump administration in a position of declaring the 2026 election in non compliance with Trump's agenda no matter what.
States should not be giving the Trump administration access to voter records, nor an opportunity to determine nor decide how states run their elections.
Everyone should know to request a provisional ballot and ask for a receipt.
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u/TheTokist 1d ago
If SCOTUS somehow ruled for the Trump admin, does that end the US as a checks and balance democracy?
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u/Ishidan01 1d ago
No, of course not, don't be silly.
That already happened when they declared Trump immune from prosecution.
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u/VacationConstant8980 1d ago
Chaos will win the day. This administration has and will use it perfectly. Fuck shit up enough to make certainty impossible. Use that uncertainty to question the legality of seating newly elected officials. The Supreme Court will swiftly rule seating newly elected officials is not in the best interest of the republic.
The is admin knows beyond a shadow of a doubt they will not win a legitimate election. So make sure one doesn’t happen.
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u/GrannyFlash7373 22h ago
When Trump leaves office, look for some immediate retirements off the court. They don't want to stick around long enough to be impeached and prosecuted for their crimes against Americans.
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