Trump asks Supreme Court to revive mail-ballot order

President Donald Trump’s administration asked the Supreme Court on Monday to let it enforce an executive order that would reshape mail-in voting rules and direct federal officials to create lists of eligible voters for the 2026 midterm elections.

The emergency request came after the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals over the weekend left in place a lower court order blocking key provisions of Trump’s March directive in 23 states and the District of Columbia. Those states sued days after the order was issued, arguing that the Constitution gives states and Congress, not the president, authority over election rules.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer urged the justices to pause the injunction, calling it “extraordinary” and arguing that it improperly prevents federal agencies from planning how to carry out the president’s policy.

“The Executive Order functions only to direct the President’s subordinates to take appropriate and lawful action to implement the President’s policy objectives,” Sauer wrote. “By stopping the relevant agencies and officials from implementing that Order with respect to the November 2026 federal election, the injunction operates as ‘an improper intrusion by a federal court into the workings of a coordinate branch of the Government.’”

The executive order directs the Homeland Security secretary to compile and send each state a “state citizenship list” of U.S. citizens eligible to vote. The Guardian reported that the order calls for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the commissioner of the Social Security Administration to create a federal list of eligible voters. It also tells the U.S. Postal Service to develop new rules for mail ballots, including requiring ballots to be marked in a specific envelope and, according to CBS News, allowing mail ballots to be sent to voters on their state’s list.

The Guardian reported that the order instructs the Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to people on that list. Trump has promoted the changes as safeguards to prevent noncitizens from voting. The Guardian reported that noncitizen voting has been shown to be rare and is a felony that can be punishable by deportation.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts blocked the administration in June from implementing the mail-ballot and citizenship-list provisions for the Nov. 3 federal elections in the states that sued. The appeals court later declined to let the administration proceed while the case continues.

Sauer argued that the injunction is premature because agencies have not yet taken final action to implement the order and are only preparing plans or guidance. He said the states are challenging “hypothetical” agency action and can return to court if they are later harmed.

“If and when the agencies take concrete actions that actually injure them, the States can pursue claims at that time, at which point courts can resolve any legal questions presented in a non-hypothetical posture,” the administration wrote.

The appeals court majority rejected that argument on the question of whether the states had standing to sue. The panel said the order established “a clear set of rapidly approaching deadlines” requiring states to coordinate with federal officials and prepare for new voting procedures while also informing election officials and the public about changing rules.

The district court had also found the order unconstitutional, but the appeal before the 1st Circuit focused on whether the dispute was ready for judicial review. Judge Joshua Dunlap, a Trump appointee, dissented in part, saying the injunction was not justified as to the provision creating and distributing state citizenship lists because it “does not order States, including Plaintiffs, to take any action based on the State Citizenship List” and only provides “further resources” to use in law enforcement.

The administration also asked the Supreme Court for an administrative stay, which would allow the challenged provisions to take effect immediately while the justices consider the broader emergency request.