League of Women Voters of Massachusetts et al. v. Trump, No. 1:26-cv-11549-IT (D. Mass.), joined for briefing with State of California et al. v. United States Postal Service, No. 1:26-cv-13917-IT (California II). FACT: August 27, 2026 memorandum and order, ECF 218, eleven pages. Title: MEMORANDUM AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART PLAINTIFFS’ MOTIONS FOR A TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER. The opening grant:
“the court GRANTS a temporary restraining order staying the United States Postal Service (“USPS”) from implementing certain sections of its final rule, Ballot Mail for Federal Elections, 91 Fed. Reg. 54966 (Aug. 26, 2026) (to be codified at 39 C.F.R. pt. 111) (the “Final Rule”).”
FACT: The day before, August 26, she granted reconsideration and vacated the August 11 nationwide preliminary injunction against Section 3 of Executive Order 14399 (ECF 204), writing she was “compelled” by the Supreme Court’s August 24 stay in Trump v. California, No. 26A124. That stay held the California injunction unripe. This August 27 paper is a new temporary restraining order against the published Final Rule. Different paper. The vacated injunction ran to the executive order. This TRO runs to the Final Rule. Do not write that she defied the stay of that vacated injunction.
FACT: The order recites that, now that USPS has published the Final Rule, “Plaintiffs’ challenges are ripe,” quoting the Supreme Court’s line that “Federal courts review final rules.” It finds plaintiffs likely to succeed on claims that USPS lacked authority to issue the Final Rule, that the Final Rule is unconstitutional in imposing the listed requirements on the States, and that it is unconstitutional in prohibiting non-compliant State and local officials from using the Postal Service to mail ballots. The remedy, page 11, is an emergency fourteen-day stay of implementation or enforcement, as to elections before or on November 3, 2026, of DMM 705.24.3.1 (to the extent Ballot Mail Envelope Standards are mandatory); 705.24.3.2 (to the extent Return Federal Ballot Mail Envelope Standards are mandatory); 705.24.4.1 (to the extent Postal Service Federal Ballot Mail Portal registration is mandatory); 705.24.4.2 (to the extent voter enrollment in that portal is mandatory); 705.24.5.1; the first two sentences of 705.24.5.2; and 705.24.5.3(a), (b), and (c). USPS defendants may take no further preparatory steps or implement those sections in any way for those elections. Defendants’ counsel must, within 24 hours after receiving service, give written notice of the order to the USPS defendants and their employees, notify them they must comply under penalty of contempt, and file the notice on the docket. Plaintiffs’ motions for preliminary injunctions remain under advisement. /s/ Indira Talwani, August 27, 2026.
A temporary restraining order is a temporary order. It is not a final judgment, not a criminal finding, and not a Supreme Court holding. The vacated August 11 preliminary injunction is a separate paper.