A second federal judge late on Sunday moved to block President Donald Trump’s administration from implementing a new US Postal Service (USPS) rule that would tighten mail-in voting requirements, though the US Supreme Court is still weighing the administration’s request to overturn a separate order blocking the rule.
Washington-based US District Judge Carl Nichols’ decision comes as Trump’s Republicans battle to retain control of both houses of Congress in the November 3 midterms. Trump, who falsely claims that his 2020 presidential election defeat was the result of widespread voter fraud, has for years called for restrictions on voting by mail.
Nichols granted a request from the Democratic Party for a preliminary injunction blocking the rule, which the party called an unlawful intrusion by the federal government into election administration.
The judge, who was appointed by Trump during his first term in the White House, wrote that the new rule could make it harder for some people to vote by mail and that the new regulation exceeded the Postal Service’s authority.