Judge lifts nationwide block on Trump's mail voting order
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A federal judge removed a nationwide ban on President Trump's sweeping mail-in voting policy Wednesday after the Supreme Court cleared the way earlier this week.
The big picture: The decision removes the last major legal obstacle to the administration's plan, though it does not end the court challenges over the embattled rule.
Driving the news: Citing the Supreme Court's Monday decision in a separate case, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani vacated her August preliminary injunction.
- Her order was without prejudice. That means plaintiffs can amend their complaint and seek a new injunction now that the Postal Service has issued its final rule.
- Talwani, who also presided over the separate case that made its way to the Supreme Court, determined it was "likely that the Supreme Court would apply the same reasoning" to her nationwide injunction.
- "Despite acknowledging that the disposition of the government's emergency application 'does not mean that any measure taken by the Government to implement the Order will necessarily be lawful,' the Supreme Court found any judicial review of the merits unavailable at this time," she wrote, quoting the Supreme Court's unsigned majority opinion.
Catch up quick: The Supreme Court did not decide on the merits of Trump's executive order in halting Talwani's separate injunction, which only applied to the states that sued over it.
- Rather, the majority determined it was too soon to determine if the states had suffered any injury.
- "Federal courts review final rules, not proposed rules—and certainly not antecedent internal directives to propose a rule," the majority wrote. "If the Postal Service's final rule harms the States, they may challenge that rule."
- USPS has published its rule, triggering yet another lawsuit from a group of states, with the midterms nearing on the horizon.
What they're saying: The coalition of states who sued Wednesday said that under the new rule, they'll have to redesign ballot envelopes, develop new systems "to convey mail voter lists to USPS" and create new guidance for election officials and the public.
- "In short," the complaint read, "they must accomplish multiple Herculean tasks, each necessary to address the disruption caused by the Rule, in a matter of weeks, with limited resources."
The bottom line: On Tuesday, Talwani ruled that the administration violated her nationwide injunction — which barred the administration from enforcing a key part of Trump's executive order — by finalizing its mail voting rule.
- By Wednesday, she removed that very barrier.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
