US news | The Guardian
· collected 2026-08-25 · by Robert Mackey, Anna Betts, Shrai Popat and Tom Ambrose
California plans to sue again to stop Trump from restricting mail voting and could make blocking delivery a felony
uncertain
blocking → plan → delivery
California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, said on Monday that his state would sue the Trump administration again to block federal changes to mail voting, after the US supreme court ruled that a previous suit was filed too early in the process by his state and 22 others.
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suit → say → state
“California will be suing AGAIN to block these Orwellian rules from being implemented,” Newsom posted.
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Newsom → sue → rules
Newsom also highlighted two new proposed state laws that would make it a crime to interfere with the delivery of mail ballots.
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it → highlight → ballots
In a press release, Newsom added that he and the California legislature “are doubling down to ensure California continues to defend democracy as new threats from Donald Trump and his election-rigging allies emerge”.
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threats → add → Trump
Two draft laws would establish three new felonies under California state law, punishable by up to four years in prison.
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laws → establish → prison
One of the laws would prohibit anyone “from seizing or causing the seizure of ballots, election records, or certified voting technology before election results are certified”, and blocks “any person with authority from directing someone in their supervision to do the same”.
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results → prohibit → same
The second law makes it a felony “for a person in a position with authority” to direct another person “to interfere with a ballot’s delivery to a voter or return to the local elections official”.
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person → make → official
That same legislation would make it a misdemeanor to interfere with “the delivery of a vote by mail ballot to a voter”.
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it → make → voter
This concludes our live coverage of the second Trump administration for the day.
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This → conclude → day
The US supreme court lifted one of two injunctions that block the Trump administration from pressing ahead with a sweeping effort to restrict mail voting
The court’s decision “needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming midterm elections”, justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in a blistering dissent.
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Jackson → lift → dissent
The NAACP, which sued in April to block the order to restrict mail-in voting, said that Republicans are trying to make it harder to vote in November because they “know full well that they are unpopular and will lose in a free and fair election”.
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they → sue → election
The Trump administration is preparing to revoke the visas of up to 200,000 foreigners who have applied for asylum status in the United States, according to US state department documents obtained by the Associated Press.
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who → prepare → Press
Donald Trump responded to criticism of his new tariffs on Canadian imports from the premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, by comparing him unfavorably to his late brother, Rob Ford, a former mayor of Toronto best known for smoking crack.
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Trump → respond → crack
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent announced that the US has begun an “unprecedented” sanctions campaign against Iran “and its enablers”.
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US → announce → Iran
Legal experts say US supreme court decision does not mean Trump can restrict mail voting for midterms
While the US supreme court on Monday lifted one of two injunctions that block the Trump administration from pressing ahead with a sweeping federal power grab over mail voting, a number of legal experts have pointed out that no changes can be made while the second injunction remains in place.
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injunction → say → place
The real action, they note, will come in legal challenges to a US Postal Service rule that would allow it to not deliver ballots in states that refuse to hand over lists of eligible voters, in line with an executive order issued in March by Donald Trump.
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that → note → Trump
“Please don’t overreact to Roberts Court decision on the contemplated USPS ballot moves,” Norm Eisen, a former ethics adviser in the Obama White House and a founder of the legacy advocacy group Democracy Defenders Action, wrote on social media.
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Eisen → overreact → media
“They simply held that the injunction came too early in the process, before there was a final rule …
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injunction → hold → process
Now we HAVE a final rule & we will litigate it.
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we → have → it
I’m as confident in our arguments here as in any of our cases!”
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I → ’m → cases
Steve Vladeck, a Georgetown University law professor, wrote in his newsletter: “Late Friday night, the U.S. Postal Service (finally) released the ‘Final Rule’ that was supposed to be published by the end of July that purports to implement Trump’s executive order.
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that → write → order
It’s that rule, not the executive order itself, that would be the basis for the USPS messing with mail-in ballots come October and November.”
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USPS → ’ → ballots
Vladeck suggests that, as soon as Tuesday, a federal judge could block the new USPS rule on mail ballots, which essentially requires states to hand over lists of eligible voters to the federal government before any mail ballots can be delivered.
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ballots → suggest → government
That rule is scheduled to go into effect on Wednesday.
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rule → schedule → Wednesday
Something called the Purcell principle, which dictates that courts should not change the rules on how people vote too close to an election, could come in to play, Vladeck writes.
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Vladeck → call → election
With mail ballots set to go out to North Carolina voters in the military or abroad at the end of next week, the supreme court’s conservative majority could invoke the Purcell principle as an excuse to strike down any legal challenge to the new USPS rule as coming “too close to the election”.
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majority → set → election
“That’s a genuine concern, and given the Court’s own repeated transgressions of the Purcell principle earlier this term in Texas, Louisiana, and Alabama, to hide behind it to allow the USPS Final Rule to go into effect would be as indefensible and anti-democratic a ruling as the Court has handed down in a very long time,” Vladeck argues.
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Vladeck → ’ → time
Oregon promises to fight Trump's effort to change its mail voting system
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Oregon → promise → system
The two dozen plaintiffs that lost at the supreme court on Monday, 23 states and the District of Columbia that sued to block the Trump administration from implementing sweeping restrictions on mail voting, have lined up to express outrage and their determination to fight on in the courts.
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that → lose → courts
Officials in Oregon, which has conducted its elections entirely by mail since 1998, vowed on Monday to take legal action if the US Postal Service or any other federal agency “unlawfully takes steps to interfere with mail voting”.
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Service → conduct → voting
“We’re not going to let Donald Trump interfere in our elections—and we’re certainly not going to let him decide who gets a ballot and who doesn’t,” Oregon’s attorney general Dan Rayfield said.
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Rayfield → go → ballot
The state’s top elections official, secretary of state Tobias Read, said the midterms “will proceed as planned this November, free from any illegal federal interference”.
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midterms → say → interference
“President Trump’s directive to the United States Postal Service is unconstitutional and an assault on our democracy and designed to silence voters,” Oregon’s governor, Tina Kotek, said.
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governor → design → voters
“Oregon has been conducting elections by mail-in voting safely and securely for decades.
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Oregon → conduct → decades
My message to the President is clear: keep your hands off our elections.”
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message → keep → elections
California plans to sue again to stop Trump from restricting mail voting and could make blocking delivery a felony
California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, said on Monday that his state would sue the Trump administration again to block federal changes to mail voting, after the US supreme court ruled that a previous suit was filed too early in the process by his state and 22 others.
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suit → plan → state
“California will be suing AGAIN to block these Orwellian rules from being implemented,” Newsom posted.
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Newsom → sue → rules
Newsom also highlighted two new proposed state laws that would make it a crime to interfere with the delivery of mail ballots.
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it → highlight → ballots
In a press release, Newsom added that he and the California legislature “are doubling down to ensure California continues to defend democracy as new threats from Donald Trump and his election-rigging allies emerge”.
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threats → add → Trump
…and 110 more, not listed.
