The Trump administration is racing to revive one of the president's big election moves in time for the midterms. The Justice Department on Monday asked the Supreme Court to lift a lower-court order that froze President Trump's March executive order targeting mail-in voting, arguing judges jumped in before federal agencies had even decided how, or whether, to carry it out, the Hill reports. Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the justices the injunction "preemptively" assumes any agency action under the order would be illegal.
Trump's directive instructs the Department of Homeland Security to assemble a list of verified US citizens eligible to vote and tells the Postal Service to craft stricter rules for states that rely on mail ballots. US District Judge Indira Talwani blocked key parts last month, saying they violate separation-of-powers limits; the 1st Circuit refused to undo that ruling on Saturday. Sauer warned that without immediate relief, it will be too late to implement any changes for November because some state election procedures "concerning voter-roll verification and absentee or mail-in voting" kick in as early as August.
Trump's March order was challenged by Democratic officials in 23 states and the District of Columbia, who said that under the Constitution, states, not the president, have the power to set election rules, the AP reports. The emergency request—Trump's 35th to the high court—lands first on Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's desk. She could act on it alone, but the full court normally votes on applications brought by the administration, per the Hill. The Democratic-led states challenging the order have until next Monday to respond to the administration's appeal.
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