Mail-voting crackdown moves ahead as Trump court win opens door to federal action
The next phase of President Donald Trump’s effort to change America’s mail-in-voting system is taking shape after the Supreme Court issued a largely favorable ruling for the White House in a challenge to Trump's mail-in ballot restrictions.
Former White House deputy counsel Gene Hamilton said federal agencies such as the Postal Service can now move forward with parts of Trump’s election-integrity order, including new ballot-mail standards and efforts involving state citizenship lists, as opposing states wait to see which concrete federal actions could form the basis of new lawsuits.
"It’s really interesting what the court did [and] it’s actually exactly what you would expect the court to do," Hamilton told Fox News Digital.
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Hamilton said that when Trump directed USPS, DHS and DOJ to prepare for the new protocols, several states immediately claimed harm, but the court’s majority rejected their challenge.
Originally, a Boston federal judge agreed with them, but the Supreme Court effectively said "you can’t enjoin [the feds] from thinking" — in Hamilton’s words — because no action had taken place yet.
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"It reminds the American people … just because something might happen in the future [it] doesn't mean that you're actually harmed today, and that's really the crux of what the court did."
Hamilton quipped that if the states challenging the order were proven right — and the possibility of future harm were enough to obtain a legal stay — his organization would "have a field day across the country" trying to head off new policies he and his clients oppose.
In that regard, he added that the district judge ultimately overruled by the Supreme Court made an "egregious" misread of Article III powers and essentially said states can dictate which cases the attorney general and DOJ try to prosecute.
He emphasized that the legal landscape could change quickly once Trump’s actions get underway, but said states challenging executive action must show a concrete or sufficiently imminent injury rather than rely on predictions about what agencies might eventually do.
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Besides USPS, Trump’s order directs DHS to compile and provide states with lists of adult U.S. citizens, while DOJ was told to prioritize investigations and potential prosecutions involving ballots issued to ineligible voters.
"Let’s see what the departments and agencies actually do. Well, let's see what they say they're going to do," Hamilton told Fox News Digital, as new concrete federal rules will come next.
The clock is ticking to implement the plan and respond to further legal challenges as states distribute mail ballots progressively earlier than in past decades.
USPS first proposed its ballot-mail rule in June and has since finalized it, requiring standardized ballot envelopes and unique tracking barcodes while directing states to use a federal portal to identify voters receiving mailed federal ballots. States that fail to comply could see outbound federal ballot mail refused or returned.
But the agency signaled at the time that it won’t implement the rule for the midterms unless the litigation is resolved. A separate injunction obtained in litigation by the League of Women Voters currently blocks USPS from implementing the rule.
"Why wouldn't you take steps like getting a list of eligible voters, like asking the USPS to use standard mail security measures that they use for other things," Hamilton commented.
Asked which provisions of Trump’s order the administration plans to implement following the ruling, when those actions would begin and how states would be directed to comply, the White House did not provide specifics.
"These are commonsense measures that protect the security of mail-in ballots and ensure only Americans are electing American leaders. This administration will continue to lawfully enact the agenda President Trump was elected on — which includes the safety and security of our elections," White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Fox News Digital.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta — who led the plaintiffs from 23 states along with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — criticized the Supreme Court for letting Trump "try to make it harder for Americans to vote."
Shapiro was listed separately because Pennsylvania Republican Attorney General David Sunday had not signed the state onto the suit.
"Not so fast," the potential 2028 presidential candidate said in a statement. "Donald Trump does not run elections here in Pennsylvania — or in any state."
"[The] SCOTUS decision does not deal with the substance of Trump’s unconstitutional Executive Order and does not mean his illegal attempt to restrict mail-in voting will go forward."
On Wednesday, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes responded to the ruling, declaring, "Over my dead body is that rule going to go into effect. We are going to fight this tooth and nail in the courts."
Bonta pledged to continue the fight and noted that Obama-appointed Judge Indira Talwani of Boston had originally sided with the plaintiffs.
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Hamilton predicted such disputes would produce another round of litigation as agencies make their next moves.
"We have to get through the arbitrage of lower court proceedings, and I'm sure there's going to be a lot more fighting to come," he said.
Shapiro echoed the plaintiffs’ opposition to the ruling, tweeting:
"We’ll see the Trump Administration in court."
Fox News Digital's Hannah Brennan and Melissa Chrise contributed to this report.