Sept 14 (Reuters) – A second federal judge late on Sunday moved to block President Donald Trump’s administration from implementing a new U.S. Postal Service rule that would tighten mail-in voting requirements, though the U.S. Supreme Court is still weighing the administration’s request to overturn a separate order blocking the rule.
Washington-based U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols’ decision comes as Trump’s Republicans battle to retain control of both houses of Congress in the November 3 midterms. Trump, who falsely claims that his 2020 presidential election defeat was the result of widespread voter fraud, has for years called for restrictions on voting by mail.
Nichols granted a request from the Democratic Party for a preliminary injunction blocking the rule, which the party called an unlawful intrusion by the federal government into election administration.
“No statute grants the Postal Service the power to issue key parts of the rule,” wrote the judge, who was appointed by Trump during his first term in the White House.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
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