The Steady Drip

Thursday, September 10, 2026

Appeals Court Won’t Allow Trump Admin to Implement New Rules for Mail-In Voting (Connecting the Dots: U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, The U.S. Postal Service (USPS), The U.S. Supreme Court, The University of California, Berkeley & The Carnegie/Soros Network)

Appeals Court Won’t Allow Trump Admin to Implement New Rules for Mail-In Voting (Connecting the Dots: U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, The U.S. Postal Service (USPS), The U.S. Supreme Court, The University of California, Berkeley & The Carnegie/Soros Network)

The ruling leaves intact a lower court order blocking the post office from moving forward with new policies.

The Epoch Times

Matthew Vadum

9/10/2026|Updated: 9/10/2026

An election worker moves mail-in ballots to be organized for tabulation in California., on June 2, 2026. Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images

https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/appeals-court-wont-allow-trump-admin-to-implement-new-rules-for-mail-in-voting-6085762?ea_src=frontpage&ea_med=section-1

The U.S. Supreme Court is currently considering a similar request.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit declined to pause an injunction issued on Sept. 4 by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, which extended a temporary restraining order she granted on Aug. 27. The injunction halted key parts of the Postal Service’s final rule.

The injunction applies to the Nov. 3 elections and any federal elections that take place before then.

The injunction blocks the mandatory parts of the post office’s final rule published Aug. 26 that implements Section 3 of President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14399. That provision would assign federal agencies a larger role in who receives a mailed ballot and how those ballots are processed by the USPS.

The Trump administration previously said the executive order would help to keep federal elections honest. The Department of Justice (DOJ) argued that the USPS is imposing mailpiece design and data standards under its general authority to regulate the mail, not deciding who is eligible to vote; states are still free to set voter lists and count ballots.

Talwani had said the postal rule could disenfranchise voters, was probably unlawful, and likely violated the U.S. Constitution, which gives states authority to run federal elections taking place within their borders. The judge previously said the postal agency presented no evidence of fraudulent mail-in voting that would justify the new USPS rule.

Talwani held that the USPS lacked authority to enforce the rule, and that, as election officials have said, given existing time constraints, complying with the rule for the midterms was “likely impossible.”

Talwani said Congress never agreed to delegate its powers under the Constitution’s Elections Clause to the USPS, so the rule “clashes with Congress’s statutory scheme, and is unconstitutional where it intrudes not only on ... [those] powers but also that power left to the States.”

The judge added that even a small glitch in the new system would be problematic and could mean ballots never go out, that eligible voters would almost certainly lose the chance to vote by mail, and that the disenfranchisement of plaintiff groups such as the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts was “practically inevitable.”

Advocacy groups and a coalition of Democrat-led states had sued to block parts of the rule, arguing implementation would lead to voter disenfranchisement. Republican states intervened in support of the federal government, arguing the rule would promote election integrity.

In its new ruling, the First Circuit said the federal government failed to show that the USPS rule was likely lawful or that the district court’s ruling was in error.

The appeals court panel said it agreed with the district court that the rule likely regulated the manner of holding elections for members of Congress, which the Constitution assigns to the states and Congress, not to an executive agency such as the USPS acting without congressional authorization.

The federal government is trying “to avoid the constitutional problem by denying that the Final Rule regulates the manner of holding elections,” but “this denial rings hollow,” the panel said, quoting the district court.

“The title of the Final Rule is ‘Ballot Mail for Federal Elections,’ and the Final Rule explicitly and exclusively regulates election mail,” the panel said.

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Sept. 3 to allow the government to begin implementing a regulation that tightens rules around mail-in voting. After Talwani dissolved the temporary restraining order, the federal government withdrew its application and filed a new one targeting the Sept. 4 injunction.

That application is still pending before the Supreme Court.

Judge Indira Talwani

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indira_Talwani

Indira Talwani (born October 6, 1960)[1] is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. She was appointed in 2014 by President Barack Obama.

Biography

Talwani graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1978 and received a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, in 1982 from Radcliffe College. She received a Juris Doctor in 1988 from UC Berkeley School of Law, graduating Order of the Coif.

Connecting the Dots:

Judge Indira Talwani was appointed in 2014 by President Barack Obama to the U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts and received a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.

Barack Obama appointed Judge Indira Talwani to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts and was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.

Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.

R. Eden Martin was counsel at Sidley Austin LLP and is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Newton N. Minow is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP and an honorary trustee at the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Cameron F. Kerry is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, John F. Kerry’s brother and a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Carnegie Corporation of New York was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank) and a supporter for the American Society for Muslim Advancement.

Andrew Carnegie was the founder of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Richard C. Blum was an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a regent at the University of California, married to Senator Dianne Feinstein and a board member for the Haas School of Business.

University of California, Berkeley is a University of California campus.

Haas School of Business is a business school at the University of California, Berkeley.

Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) was founded at the University of California, Berkeley.

Judge Indira Talwani received a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, was a law clerk to Judge Stanley Alexander Weigel of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

Judge Charles Roberts Breyer received his Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley and a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Judge Edward Milton Chen earned a bachelor's degree in 1975 from the University of California, Berkeley and a Juris Doctor from UC Berkeley School of Law in 1979, is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a senior United States district judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Maria Echaveste received a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Hall), was married to Christopher Edley Jr and a board of adviser’s member for the American Constitution Society.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the American Constitution Society.

George Soros is the founder & chairman of the Open Society Foundations and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Carnegie Corporation of New York was a funder for the Brookings Institution (think tank) and a supporter for the American Society for Muslim Advancement.

Andrew Carnegie was the founder of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Vernon E. Jordan Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), Valerie B. Jarrett’s great uncle and Antoinette Cook Bush’s stepfather.

Antoinette Cook Bush is Vernon E. Jordan Jr’s stepdaughter and was a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.

Christina M. Tchen was a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and the chief of staff to the first lady (Michelle Obama) for the Barack Obama administration.

Gregory B. Craig is a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, married to Margaret D. Noyes, a trustee at the German Marshall Fund of the United States (think tank), was the White House counsel for the Barack Obama administration and a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

Margaret D. Noyes is married to Gregory B. Craig and the art director & designer for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).

German Marshall Fund of the United States (think tank) was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

Andrew Carnegie was the founder of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) and the founder of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Carnegie Corporation of New York was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) and a supporter for the American Society for Muslim Advancement.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank) and the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Lee H. Hamilton is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank) and a director at the BAE Systems Inc.

D. Michael Bennett is the SVP for BAE Systems Inc. and a member nominee for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).

Andrew H. Tisch is a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank) and Laurence A. Tisch’s son.

Laurence A. Tisch was Andrew H. Tisch’s father and Preston R. Tisch’s brother.

Preston R. Tisch is Laurence A. Tisch’s brother and was the postmaster general for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).

Margaret D. Noyes is the art director & designer for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and married to Gregory B. Craig.

Gregory B. Craig is married to Margaret D. Noyes, a trustee at the German Marshall Fund of the United States (think tank), a partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, was the White House counsel for the Barack Obama administration and a trustee at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (think tank).