Appeals panel affirms courts can quickly block USPS changes ahead of election

A federal appeals court panel on Tuesday tossed a 2020 injunction against U.S. Postal Service (USPS) budget cuts. But deep in the ruling, the judges took the chance to send a message to the Department of Justice: that federal courts may still quickly block last-minute USPS actions ahead of an election, without getting delayed by procedural disputes.

With concern growing about late changes to mail delivery that could make it harder for ballots to arrive on time, the finding could cut off a potential avenue for the Trump administration’s anti-voting interference.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, made up of two President Barack Obama appointees and one President Donald Trump appointee, ruled unanimously to overturn a lower court order that prevented USPS from eliminating late and extra mail delivery trips. They held that the plaintiffs in New York v. Trump should have first challenged the USPS budget cuts before the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) before suing in the district court.

But the judges stressed in a footnote that their ruling doesn’t prevent the filing of emergency lawsuits directly in federal court just before an election.



https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/appeals-panel-affirms-courts-can-quickly-block-usps-changes-ahead-of-election/