The Trump administration filed two major appeals in September 2026 affecting voting access and deportations, both facing legal obstacles before their deadlines. An emergency appeal to restrict mail-in voting failed at the Supreme Court on September 14, 2026, while a separate case involving alleged Venezuelan gang member deportations awaits court arguments later in the month.
Table of Contents
- The Failed Mail Voting Appeal
- What the Rule Would Have Changed
- The Supreme Court's Decision
- The Pending Venezuelan Deportation Appeal
- What Comes Next
The Failed Mail Voting Appeal
The trump administration appealed to the Supreme Court on september 6, 2026, seeking to overturn a federal judge's block of a USPS rule that would have restricted mail-in ballots. This was the third Supreme Court request on the issue before November elections.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani had blocked the regulation on September 5, 2026, finding that implementing it fewer than 70 days before the election threatened to disenfranchise millions of voters without giving states and local officials adequate time to prepare.
What the Rule Would Have Changed
The rule required all ballots to be physically delivered to post offices before mailing to voters, eliminating home delivery and ballot collection options. More significantly, a single barcode scanning error in one ballot would result in an entire batch—potentially containing tens of thousands of valid ballots—being discarded. The tight timeline before November elections meant election officials would have had no realistic opportunity to pilot or troubleshoot such a system.
The Supreme Court's Decision
The Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration's emergency request on September 14, 2026, with Justice Brett Kavanaugh writing that applying the rule would be "arbitrary and capricious" because election officials lacked sufficient time to implement it. The rejection means mail-in voting will proceed under existing procedures for the November midterms, preserving the access that millions of voters rely on.
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The Pending Venezuelan Deportation Appeal
A second Trump administration appeal involves the removal of alleged Venezuelan gang members under the Alien Enemies Act. The D.C.
Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled oral arguments in case No. 25-5452 for September 29, 2026, to hear a dispute over these deportations. The case stems from March 2026, when the Trump administration transferred detainees to El Salvador despite a temporary restraining order, raising legal questions about whether the administration followed proper court procedures during removal operations.
What Comes Next
The mail-ballot decision ensures mail-in voting will continue for the November 2026 midterms without the new USPS restrictions. The Venezuelan deportation case remains active at the D.C.
Circuit, with oral arguments on September 29, 2026. Voters should monitor their state election office websites for mail voting procedures and deadlines; those concerned about deportation enforcement should monitor the case filing for the court's decision, which will clarify what legal procedures the government must follow when removing detainees facing legal challenges.
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