Elias argues USPS board could refuse Trump order on ballot mail
"the fact is the US Postal Service is not a government agency. I mean, the board of governors of the of the USPS, they could just tell Donald Trump no, >> right? >> Right. They don't have to abide by this."
About this episode
Brian Tyler Cohen interviews voting-rights lawyer Mark Elias about litigation over what Elias describes as a Trump executive order that would condition delivery of mail-in ballots on states handing over voter data to the federal government, including the US Postal Service. Elias says a key setback came when the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit stayed a trial-court order that had enforced a 2020 settlement reached in a case originally brought by the NAACP and others, which he says required USPS not to reduce service or make voting by mail harder.
Elias outlines what he calls a “complicated soup” of parallel cases: the NAACP settlement-enforcement matter in DC; a lawsuit by attorneys general from 23 states, in which a federal judge in Massachusetts has blocked the executive order in those states; and a separate case filed by Elias and his firm on behalf of the Democratic Party, which he says was dismissed at trial court on standing grounds and is being appealed. He argues that even partial injunctions could make implementation impractical because mail voting and ballot delivery often cross state lines.
Elias also claims USPS is not a typical executive-branch agency and says the board of governors could refuse to implement the policy, while suggesting the board may fear retaliation from Congress. The conversation ends with discussion of the Purcell principle, with both arguing courts and the government often resist late election changes except when it suits them.
Key takeaways
- Elias says the DC Circuit stayed a lower-court order enforcing a 2020 USPS settlement tied to protecting voting-by-mail service.
- He says a Massachusetts federal court injunction blocks the challenged executive order in 23 states while appeals proceed.
- Elias describes a separate Democratic Party lawsuit, saying the trial court rejected it on standing grounds and an appeal is pending.
- He argues USPS operational realities could make state-by-state rules difficult to implement for 2026.
- Elias claims USPS governance gives its board of governors discretion to decline presidential demands, and he criticises the board’s posture.
- Cohen and Elias argue late-cycle changes to election administration raise Purcell-principle concerns, but say the government invokes it selectively.