President Donald Trump has unleashed a blistering attack on the Supreme Court after the justices rejected his administration’s emergency request to put new federal rules governing mail-in ballots into effect before the 2026 midterm elections.
In a lengthy Truth Social statement, Trump singled out the Supreme Court justices he appointed during his first term, accusing the Court of abandoning the principles he believed those nominees represented when they were selected.
The dispute centers on new U.S. Postal Service requirements that the administration sought to implement for federal election ballot mail. The rules included standardized requirements involving ballot envelopes and voter information, while giving the Postal Service authority to reject mail that did not meet the new requirements.
The Supreme Court declined to lift a lower-court injunction blocking the rules. The order was issued Monday, September 14, with Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissenting. Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed with the outcome but wrote separately that he believed the underlying rule could potentially fall within the Postal Service’s statutory authority. His concern was the timing: state and local election officials did not have sufficient time to implement the changes before the November election.
