A Trump-appointed federal judge in Washington, D.C. on Sunday blocked the U.S. Postal Service’s new mail-in ballot rule, the one designed to stop untracked, unverified absentee ballots from flooding the midterms, after Democrat committees, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, LULAC, and the NAACP sued to kill it.

As reported right here on The Gateway Pundit back in May, Judge Nichols originally smashed the Democrats’ desperate, multi-headed lawsuits, brought by Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, and left-wing activist groups, ruling they had absolutely zero standing to challenge President Trump’s March 31 Executive Order.

We celebrated this as a massive win for basic ballot security. Now, with the election breathing down our necks, Nichols has completely reversed course and sided with the very same activists he previously dismissed.

U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols granted preliminary injunctions against the Postal Service’s Final Rule on “Ballot Mail for Federal Elections.”

He ruled that key parts of the rule were ultra vires: Congress never gave USPS the power to force states to enroll mail voters in a federal portal, build state-specific absentee lists, and refuse outbound ballots that don’t match the list.

According to the court’s memorandum opinion, the rule created a Federal Ballot Mail Portal, required state and local election officials to submit voter and ballot information to USPS, established state-specific participation lists, and allowed the Postal Service to reject outbound federal ballot mail that failed to meet the new requirements.

Judge Nichols wrote that the Postal Reorganization Act authorizes USPS to collect, handle, transport, and deliver mail.

However, he found that the law does not authorize the agency to impose new election procedures on state officials, create a voter-data system, or refuse to transmit otherwise lawful mail because it was not entered into the new system.

“The key portions of the Rule exceed any conception of the outer bounds” of the Postal Service’s statutory authority, Nichols wrote.

The judge distinguished the rule’s envelope-design requirements from its broader voter-verification provisions. He noted that USPS may have broad authority to regulate envelope preparation, labeling, and tracking.

However, he concluded that the creation of the portal and the requirement that ballots be tied to individual voter records went beyond postal operations and into election administration.

The court also found that election officials could face significant delays and additional costs so close to the November midterm elections.

The opinion cited concerns over redesigning ballot envelopes, obtaining Postal Service approval, implementing the portal, and scanning ballots for compliance.

Judge Nichols ruled that those complications could increase the risk that legally cast absentee and mail-in ballots would not be transmitted or counted.

He further held that the public interest favored preventing the implementation of a rule that was likely unauthorized and could interfere with voters’ access to the ballot.

The ruling is a preliminary injunction, meaning the court has not issued a final decision on the ultimate legality of the rule.

USPS finalized the rule in August after President Donald Trump’s March executive order on election procedures. The Postal Service said the measure was intended to establish new mail-preparation and data-reporting requirements for federal ballots.

Under the rule, outbound ballot envelopes were required to contain unique Intelligent Mail barcodes and be connected to information submitted through the Federal Ballot Mail Portal.

The USPS previously defended the policy, stating that it acted within its legal authority and that the portal would rely on information supplied by state election officials rather than outside federal databases.

The Gateway Pundit previously reported that Postmaster General David Steiner told lawmakers USPS would not deliver federal mail-in ballots from states that failed to comply with the proposed requirements. TGP also reported on the Postal Service’s finalized mail-ballot rules in August.

With the system under relentless attack from within the courts, how can citizens take action at the local level to ensure the upcoming vote remains transparent and secure?

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