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Why a Trump-Appointed Judge Just Blocked the President's Mail-In Ballot Restrictions

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Cite

Root, D. (2026, September 15). Why a Trump-Appointed Judge Just Blocked the President's Mail-In Ballot Restrictions. Reason. https://reason.com/2026/09/15/why-a-trump-appointed-judge-just-blocked-the-presidents-mail-in-ballot-restrictions/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Reason · collected 2026-09-15 · by Damon Root

Quick Summary

A judge appointed by President Donald Trump has blocked a new rule implemented by the United States Postal Service regarding mail-in ballots, stating that the USPS lacked congressional authorization to enforce it. Judge Carl Nichols of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a preliminary injunction on Sunday, preventing the rule from affecting federal elections in November. The ruling highlights the constitutional authority divide between state and congressional regulation versus executive action, emphasizing that only Congress can make regulations concerning federal election procedures.
Written by AI on 2026-09-16, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On Sunday, Judge Carl Nichols, a judge appointed by President Trump to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, issued an order blocking parts of President Trump's executive order aimed at restricting mail-in ballots. The judge noted that just three weeks prior, the United States Postal Service had adopted new rules requiring all absentee and mail-in ballots sent in envelopes meeting specific design requirements and verified by voters through a newly created portal. This decision came after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 that Trump's executive order could be implemented for upcoming elections but did not definitively rule on its legality. Judge Nichols’s ruling is seen as a significant setback for Trump's efforts to tighten restrictions on mail-in voting ahead of November elections, reinforcing ongoing legal challenges against the measure.

Written for “Mail In Ballot Restrictions Court Case” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Mail In Ballot Restrictions Court Case
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 16% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Guardian
Hedges 1 of 19 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different court decisions: Article A discusses an appeals court rejecting Trump's bid to restrict mail-in voting, while Article B mentions a Supreme Court ruling allowing the executive branch to implement restrictions.”
The Guardian
Hedges 4 of 39 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A discusses a judge blocking Trump's ballot restrictions after an initial Supreme Court ruling, while Article B states that the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s mail ballot restrictions.”
CBS News
Hedges 1 of 14 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different legal actions: one is a lawsuit to block ICE and federal agents from polling sites, while the other involves a Trump-appointed judge blocking mail-in ballot restrictions.”
Los Angeles Times
Hedges 7 of 32 claims Outlet record 95/100
“Article A discusses states warning the Supreme Court about chaos if USPS rules stand, while Article B talks about a Trump-appointed judge blocking the president's mail-in ballot restrictions following a Supreme Court ruling.”
Reason
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 3 of 23 claims Outlet record 67/100
“The articles describe different stages of legal proceedings related to Trump's executive order on mail-in voting.”
NBC News
Outlet record 60/100
“Article A states the Supreme Court denied Trump's voting restrictions, while Article B describes a ruling that allowed implementation but noted it was not final.”
The Independent
Hedges 6 of 24 claims Outlet record 59/100
“Article A discusses a judge blocking Trump's mail-in ballot restrictions, while Article B focuses on Trump's reaction to Supreme Court rulings against his administration's efforts regarding mail-in ballots and other issues.”
Fox News
⚖️ Leans right further right than this Hedges 4 of 32 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles discuss different time periods and legal actions regarding mail-in ballot restrictions under President Trump, with Article A focusing on a recent court decision and Article B discussing ongoing legal uncertainty for future implementation.”
NBC News
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 2 of 30 claims Outlet record 60/100
“The articles describe different rulings: one allows Trump's executive order to be implemented but not necessarily lawfully, while the other prevents a USPS regulation from going into effect.”
The Independent
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 8 of 32 claims Outlet record 59/100
“The articles describe different stages in the legal and political process regarding Trump's efforts to restrict mail-in ballots, not a single specific incident.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
19
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
16%
3 of 19 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
67/100
Reason's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-16 · source text last changed 2026-09-16 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Reason · 1039 article(s) · 4 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 4 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Damon Root
7 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The 5th Circuit also denied that the federal ban on home distilling could be saved by the government's appeal to the Necessary and Proper Clause, which says that Congress has the authority "To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
🔮 So declared a recent attention-grabbing headline at Politico, which probably caused a blood pressure spike among those readers who got the mistaken impression that the retirement under consideration might be imminent.
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2026-10-01 · assertive framing · 2 Supreme Court Cases to Watch This Month
🔮 Last year, President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing federal officials to create new systems that would allow state and local authorities to check the immigration status of both registered voters and would-be voters who were seeking to register.
2026-09-29 · assertive framing · A Limited Supreme Court Win for Trump's Voter Database
🔮 Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 that the executive branch may begin to implement President Donald Trump's executive order that seeks to restrict the use of mail-in ballots in the fast-approaching midterm elections this November.
🔮 Article III, Section 1, of the U.S. Constitution says that "the judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish."
🔮 "The Declaration [of Independence] charged that George III 'has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries,'" Roberts observed in his 2025 report.
Also by Damon Root
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2026-10-06 · Reason
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 7 articles by Damon Root →

Topics

Congress Court Reason the Postal Service the U.S. Supreme Court

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 6× Congress ORG · 3× Nichols PERSON · 3× the Postal Service ORG · 3× Court ORG · 2× the U.S. Supreme Court ORG · 2× Damon PERSON · 1× Damon Root PERSON · 1× Donald Trump PERSON · 1× Reason ORG · 1×

Narrative

"Less than three weeks ago," observed Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee who sits on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, "the United States Postal Service adopted a Final Rule requiring that all absentee and mail-in ballots for federal elections—including for the elections occurring in less than sixty days—be transmitted only in envelopes satisfying new design requirements and be transmitted only to voters who are verified by the Postal Service to have been enrolled in a newly created 'Federal Ballot Mail Portal.'"
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-15
🔮 Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 that the executive branch may begin to implement President Donald Trump's executive order that seeks to restrict the use of mail-in ballots in the fast-approaching midterm elections this November.

Claims (19 extracted, 3 hedged)

Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 that the executive branch may begin to implement President Donald Trump's executive order that seeks to restrict the use of mail-in ballots in the fast-approaching midterm elections this November. uncertain
that → rule → elections
At the same time, however, the Court also made it clear that its ruling was not the final word on the matter. asserted
ruling → make → matter
"The Court's disposition of this application does not mean that any measure taken by the Government to implement the Order will necessarily be lawful," explained its unsigned majority opinion. asserted
measure → mean → opinion
"On that score, time will tell." asserted
time → tell → score
In other words, the real legal battle over Trump's mail-in ballot order was just getting started. asserted
battle → mail → order
On Sunday, the administration suffered a notable defeat in that now-unfolding battle. asserted
administration → suffer → battle
What is more, in a sort of insult added to legal injury, Trump suffered that defeat at the hands of a judge that he himself appointed to the federal bench. asserted
he → add → bench
You’re reading Injustice System from Damon Root and Reason. asserted
You → read → Root
"Less than three weeks ago," observed Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee who sits on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, "the United States Postal Service adopted a Final Rule requiring that all absentee and mail-in ballots for federal elections—including for the elections occurring in less than sixty days—be transmitted only in envelopes satisfying new design requirements and be transmitted only to voters who are verified by the Postal Service to have been enrolled in a newly created 'Federal Ballot Mail Portal.'" asserted
who → observe → Portal
The problem with that, Nichols observed, is that "the Postal Service could issue (and enforce) the Rule only if Congress gave it the authority to do so, but here no statute grants the Postal Service the power to issue key parts of the Rule." uncertain
statute → observe → Rule
Nichols therefore issued a preliminary injunction that entirely blocks the Postal Service's new rule on mail-in ballots from going into effect while the litigation against it plays out. asserted
litigation → issue → it
The "plaintiffs have demonstrated that, absent an injunction, there is an increased risk that a significant number of otherwise appropriate absentee or mail-in ballots will ultimately not be counted in the upcoming elections," Nichols wrote. asserted
Nichols → demonstrate → elections
"The public has a strong interest in ensuring that doesn't happen." At the center of this dispute is a fairly straightforward piece of constitutional text. asserted
piece → have → text
According to Article I, Section 4, "the Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations." uncertain
Congress → accord → Regulations
Put differently, the Constitution leaves the making of rules and regulations for federal elections in the hands of the states and Congress; the executive branch is granted no such authority. asserted
branch → Put → authority
That's the rather steep constitutional hurdle that Trump will somehow have to clear if his executive crackdown on mail-in voting is going to happen. asserted
crackdown → have → voting
The fact that a Trump-appointed federal judge has just issued what is effectively a bench slap against the implementation of the president's order does not bode well for his efforts to evade the constitutional separation of powers. asserted
what → appoint → powers
*UPDATE: Last night, by a vote of 7–2, the U.S. Supreme Court left in place a different ruling by a different lower court that had similarly blocked parts of the president's mail-in ballot rules from going into effect. asserted
that → leave → effect
As a result of this late-breaking action by the Court, Trump's unilateral attempt to restrict voting by mail in the midterm elections has effectively been rendered dead on arrival. asserted
attempt → break → arrival
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