President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before departing on Marine One from the South Lawn of the White House, Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Washington (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta).
A federal judge on Wednesday declined to dismiss defendant President Donald Trump from a lawsuit challenging an executive order that fashioned the "Executive Branch, via the USPS, as a regulator of state mail-ballot programs."
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani preliminarily sided with the League of Women Voters plaintiffs who alleged that a key portion of Trump's executive order 14399 "violates the separation of powers doctrine, is ultra vires, violates principles of Federalism, and violates their members' right to vote."
"The right to vote is a fundamental right, which the Constitution guarantees to all citizens," observed Talwani, a Barack Obama appointee sitting in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. "As this court has explained, Section 3 of the EO is unconstitutional."
Titled "Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections," the late-March order directed Postmaster General David Steiner to "initiate" agency rulemaking to "specify[] that all outbound ballot mail must be mailed in an envelope that: is marked as Official Election Mail, including through designated markings provided by USPS for this purpose, such as the Official Election Mail logo, as necessary and appropriate; is automation-compatible and bears a unique Intelligent Mail barcode, or successor USPS technology, that facilitates tracking and is consistent with the other requirements of this section; and has undergone a mail envelope design review by the USPS to ensure compliance with USPS mailing standards, including barcode placement."
In addition, the section said USPS "shall not transmit mail-in or absentee ballots from any individual unless those individuals have been enrolled on a State-specific" so-called "mail-in and absentee participation list."
The judge concluded that Section 3 is "unconstitutional," the president "plays no role in the regulation of elections" and Congress "has not delegated authority to USPS to sort the mail, let alone to refuse to transmit mail ballots for certain voters."
In a footnote, Talwani added that Trump's order "directs the violation of several of obligations imposed on USPS by Congress, including the exhaustive statutory definition of 'nonmailable matter,' which does not include ballot mail from unenrolled individuals, and USPS's obligation not to make 'any undue or unreasonable discrimination among users of the mails.'"
Although the DOJ had argued that Trump should be dismissed as a defendant from the lawsuit, Talwani advised the government to take it up with Justice Antonin Scalia's jurisprudence.
"Presidential action is not inherently unreviewable," the judge said, citing Scalia's concurrence in the 1992 case Franklin v. Massachusetts. "Ultimately, Justice Scalia's Franklin concurrence does not ineludibly proscribe declaratory judgments against the President."
"Therefore, the court denies Defendants' Motion to dismiss the President," the opinion said.
In a statement, the plaintiffs' attorneys said they are pleased Talwani "recognized the disruption and chaos caused by the executive order and ruled that our clients' claims can move forward."
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