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With the November midterms approaching, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is joining attorneys general from 23 states and Washington, D.C., in suing the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) over a Trump-backed mail-ballot rule that would impose new federal requirements on how states prepare and send mail ballots.
“I’m suing the Trump Administration to stop their unconstitutional attempt to change the rules and restrict mail-in voting. I’ll remind the President of my track record going up against him in court — and winning — to protect Pennsylvania’s free, fair, safe, and secure elections. I’m prepared to do so again,” Shapiro wrote on X. “Nothing about voting by mail has changed here in Pennsylvania. You can still vote safely and securely by mail.”
“While Donald Trump may try to inject chaos into our elections, the Constitution is clear: the authority to set election rules belongs to the states — not the federal government,” he continued.
The two-dozen-state coalition returned to court two days after the Supreme Court stayed an earlier injunction issued by a Massachusetts federal judge against key parts of Trump’s mail-voting executive order, finding the states’ initial challenge premature because USPS had not yet issued a final rule when they filed suit.
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“The Supreme Court ruling was a major win for the security of American elections. Radical Democrats continue to oppose commonsense measures that protect the security of mail-in ballots and ensure only Americans are electing American leaders,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “The Trump Administration will continue to lawfully enact the agenda President Trump was elected on – which includes the safety and security of our elections.”
At issue is USPS’s newly finalized “Ballot Mail for Federal Elections” rule, which went into effect last week and was published Wednesday. It would require state and local election officials to submit information on intended mail-ballot recipients to a USPS portal, where the agency would compile state-specific lists of enrolled mail voters. It would also require certain mail-in ballot design requirements, such as trackable barcodes, and require officials to submit ballot-envelope designs to USPS for pre-approval.
In their 53-page complaint, the states argue that the rule improperly gives USPS a new role in running elections, forcing election officials to adopt new procedures, share ballot-recipient information and potentially replace already-purchased envelopes as the midterms draw closer. They also argue that Congress, not the president or Postal Service, has the authority to alter election rules, and that USPS skipped a review process for major nationwide changes to postal services or operations.
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The coalition is asking the court to block the rule while the lawsuit proceeds and ultimately throw it out, arguing that their new challenge answers the Supreme Court’s timing concern. A separate Massachusetts injunction had temporarily blocked USPS from putting the requirements in place for the November midterms, but the judge lifted that order Wednesday following the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“This Court held that ‘no law enacted by Congress delegates authority to control mail-in voting to USPS,’ and that the President’s directives to USPS were ultra vires,” the states write in their complaint. “The Supreme Court subsequently stayed the injunction—not because Plaintiff States’ claims lacked merit, but because the States ‘lack[ed] standing to bring’ their claims as to the [Executive Order] … As the Court explained, USPS had not yet implemented the EO, but if USPS ultimately adopts a final rule that ‘harms the States, they may challenge that rule.’ USPS then published its final rule two days later.”
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USPS did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment in time for publication.
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