{"id":489,"date":"2026-07-05T22:47:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T17:47:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=489"},"modified":"2026-07-05T22:47:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T17:47:32","slug":"a-second-judge-blocks-trumps-attempted-federal-takeover-of-vote-by-mail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=489","title":{"rendered":"A Second Judge Blocks Trump\u2019s Attempted Federal Takeover of Vote by Mail"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h2-4f473fa0-570c-4552-92b4-399884cf3487\">Power Grab on Hold for Now<\/h2>\n<p>A second judge has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.courtlistener.com\/docket\/17461792\/182\/national-association-for-the-advancement-of-colored-people-v-united-states\/\" target=\"_blank\">blocked<\/a> aspects of a March <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/2026\/03\/ensuring-citizenship-verification-and-integrity-in-federal-elections\/\" target=\"_blank\">order<\/a> by President Trump that would require the Postal Service to only send mail ballots to voters the federal government has deemed to be eligible.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Postmaster general David Steiner attracted quite a bit of attention last month when he told the Senate the USPS <a href=\"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/where-things-stand\/on-big-night-for-the-left-voters-tapped-an-institutionalist-normie-to-take-on-mike-lawler#h2-01b7a62d-9778-422e-a24b-2fcf6ac6fc14\" target=\"_blank\">was ready to carry out Trump\u2019s order<\/a>. The very next day, the majority of it was <a href=\"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/news\/judge-executive-order-vote-by-mail-blue-purple-states\" target=\"_blank\">blocked<\/a> by Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama-appointed district court judge in Massachusetts. Another judge, Trump-appointed Carl John Nichols, a district court judge for the District of Columbia, had <a href=\"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/news\/trump-executive-order-voter-list\" target=\"_blank\">upheld<\/a> it in May.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, Washington, D.C., District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan, appointed by Clinton, also blocked the Postal Service\u2019s plan, finding that it violated a 2021 settlement agreement with the NAACP, requiring the postmaster general \u201cto prioritize monitoring and timely delivery of election mail.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The new Postal Service rule, based on Trump\u2019s order, \u201cwill not accept \u2018noncompliant mailings\u2019 and therefore will not deliver mail-in or absentee ballots to some voters,\u201d and \u201cwill not mail ballots to any voters in a state where the state \u2018declines or fails to certify a list\u201d \u2014 both of which violate the settlement agreement, Sullivan wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The fight is the tip of the spear in terms of Trump\u2019s efforts to mess with the midterms and the 2028 presidential election by suppressing vote by mail. The two earlier district court rulings on the order have been appealed, and the fight may well end up before the Supreme Court.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h2-f409a9e7-44f4-403f-b6cc-4bb895f3e6d2\"><strong>Fourth Appeals Court Rules Against Trump\u2019s Mass Detention Policies<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A three-judge panel on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has <a href=\"https:\/\/s3.documentcloud.org\/documents\/28384153\/10thcircuit.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">ruled<\/a>, unanimously, against a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/06\/30\/mandatory-detention-10-circuit-ruling-00983227\" target=\"_blank\">sweeping July 2025 Trump policy to detain immigrants<\/a>, regardless of how long they have been in the U.S., as deportation proceedings progress, denying them bond.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/05\/13\/mandatory-detention-ice-cases-rulings-database-00913988?_sp_pass_consent=true\" target=\"_blank\">Politico<\/a> review in May found that the administration had already seen a staggering tens of thousands of rulings against this policy. Wednesday\u2019s ruling was the fourth such one from a circuit court; other circuits have upheld the policy, suggesting it is inevitably Supreme Court-bound.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>In April, <a href=\"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/news\/under-trump-ii-immigrants-are-selling-their-furniture-and-cars-to-get-out-of-detention\" target=\"_blank\">Bryce Covert reported for TPM<\/a> that even those detainees who do get bond are seeing it set for far higher sums than before, taxing bail funds who are also fielding more requests for help amid the Trump administration crackdown.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Various outlets <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/07\/01\/us\/politics\/ice-immigrant-arrests-surge.html\" target=\"_blank\">reported<\/a> yesterday that we are in the midst of another, quieter Department of Homeland Security surge, with 10,000 people detained in the last week alone.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h2-4c5888b7-8faa-4032-9a23-0bd3a1445b2b\"><strong>Tabs<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The Trump admin\u2019s cuts to government are <a href=\"https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/heres-why-weather-forecasts-have-seemed-so-inaccurate-lately-2000779436\" target=\"_blank\">part of the reason<\/a> why weather forecasts have gotten so inaccurate.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Remember the soaring cost of eggs? The DOJ and 17 states are <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/egg-prices-collusion-settlement-d32b05892541613df3f4e4932109ee0c\" target=\"_blank\">settling with three major egg producers<\/a> they accuse of colluding to \u201cartificially inflate the daily price quotations for eggs\u201d between June 2022 and March 2025. None of the companies are admitting wrongdoing, but, in the settlement, the companies will \u201ccollectively be on the hook for $3.3 million and 53 million eggs,\u201d per New York Attorney General Tish James.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Trump made <a href=\"https:\/\/newrepublic.com\/post\/212610\/donald-trump-making-bank-suing-news-organizations\" target=\"_blank\">$86 million<\/a> last year suing media companies.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h2-0aeb4d56-47e0-4089-a3a0-f4f2b50a2da9\"><strong>Quote of the Day<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>\u201cA policeman came up to me \u2014 a big, strong, good-looking guy \u2014 and he said, \u2018sir, I want to thank you.\u2019 He was almost, sort of, crying.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/acyn\/status\/2072417700991873174?s=46\" target=\"_blank\">Trump<\/a>, with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/politics\/2019\/02\/14\/big-strong-men-cant-stop-crying-around-donald-trump-just-ask-him\/\" target=\"_blank\">latest installment<\/a> in his ongoing series about large men thanking him while crying<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n    window.fbAsyncInit = function() {\n      FB.init({\n        appId: \"101800829865996\",\n        xfbml: true,\n        version: ' v2.6'\n      });\n      window.fbAsyncInit.__didInit = true;\n    };\n    (function(d, s, id) {\n      var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n      if (d.getElementById(id)) {\n        return;\n      }\n      js = d.createElement(s);\n      js.id = id;\n      js.src = \"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\";\n      fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n    }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));\n  <\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Power Grab on Hold for Now A second judge has blocked aspects of a March order by President Trump that would require the Postal Service to only send mail ballots to voters the federal government has deemed to be eligible.\u00a0 Postmaster general David Steiner attracted quite a bit of attention last month when he told&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":490,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2277528838.jpg?w=804","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}