Supreme Court 6-3 Lifts Injunction on Trump Mail-Ballot Restrictions — Trump v. California (2026-08-24)

The U.S. Supreme Court votes 6-3 (per curiam) to grant the Trump administration's application for a stay in Trump v. California (No. 26A124, consolidated with Alabama v. California No. 26A139), lifting the district court's injunction and allowing the administration to move forward with parts of the March 31 election-integrity executive order. The Court found the lower court's stay was premature, holding the states' constitutional challenge was not ripe because the executive order had not yet been implemented when the complaint was filed. Justices Sotomayor (joined by Kagan) and Jackson dissented. Jackson wrote that the executive order set its own final-rule deadline of July 29, 2026, deliberately creating the time crunch later cited to justify the stay — and observed that no Justice held the order comports with the Constitution. The ruling lifted only one of two injunctions; a separate nationwide block on the ballot-delivery provision remained pending, and additional legal and practical hurdles made full implementation before November uncertain.