Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas firmly dissented Monday as the Supreme Court denied a request by President Donald Trump's administration for relief from a universal injunction against its mail-in ballot rules.The dissent, which Alito authored and Thomas joined, argued that the plaintiffs in the case were relying on claims that the court had previously identified as weak and unlikely to succeed."The Court incorrectly denies the Government’s application for a stay of a universal injunction that bars implementation of a final rule concerning election ballot mail," Alito wrote."Some of the plaintiffs lack standing, while the remainder are pursuing a claim that this Court has recently called a ‘Hail Mary pass’ that ‘rarely succeeds.'"SUPREME COURT REJECTS TRUMP BID TO REVIVE STRICT MAIL-BALLOT RULES BEFORE MIDTERMSSupreme Court Justice Samuel Alito saying he is staying for another term drew praise from President Donald Trump.
(Getty Images)"The Government has made the showings necessary for a stay, so I respectfully dissent," he concluded.The Court's Monday order went unsigned, but Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote a concurrence that allowed room for a potential Trump victory down the line.He nevertheless argued that it is too close to Election Day to realistically implement the rules for the 2026 midterm elections.FEDERAL APPEALS COURT REJECTS TRUMP BID TO ENFORCE MAIL BALLOT ORDER AHEAD OF MIDTERM ELECTIONSSupreme Court Associate Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas wait to leave the stage after the inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the U.S.
Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan.20, 2025.
(Chip Somodevilla/AFP via Getty Images)"In my view, based on the briefing the Court has received at this interim stage, there is at least a fair prospect that the final rule falls within the Postal Service’s statutory authority," Kavanaugh wrote."But applying the rule in the 2026 elections would be arbitrary and capricious in violation of the Administrat...