Ok, take a deep breath everyone. I’m going to try to explain what is going on in California v. Trump/League of Women Voters v. Trump, the combined cases being heard by Judge Indira Talwani in the Massachusetts District Court, challenging Trump and USPS efforts to take over vote-from-home and disrupt the general election. 1/ #LawFedi
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There are also cases challenging the Trump regime’s takeover in the D.C. District Court, but Talwani most recently issued a 14 day Temporary Restraining Order against USPS implementing its planned system. Today, she heard arguments on whether to make this temporary restraint more permanent, that is, whether to prohibit USPS from acting while the underlying merits of the entire case are adjudicated. 2/
Both the plaintiffs and the defendants know that there is unlikely to be sufficient time for the merits to be adjudicated prior to the election beginning (in at least one state, ballots are scheduled to be mailed to voters tomorrow), so the fighting over these temporary injunctions is intense. 3/
@heidilifeldman good thread but minor correction; the earliest post primary 2026 midterm ballots are scheduled to start mailing from North Carolina this week, tomorrow Sept 4th, not next. Haven't heard if anyone's ballot envelope design has been approved by Trump's USPS yet, but NC allegedly submitted it early. So I guess we'll start finding out tomorrow how much of a 💩 show Trump's USPS illegal election interference causes.
https://www.votebeat.org/national/2026/08/31/trump-mail-voting-postal-service-election-challenges-court/
The situation has gotten even more complicated because there is a credible whistleblower accusation that USPS is in fact implementing its system, possibly in violation of the standing TRO. There are also reports that other arms of the Trump regime, especially ICE and DHS, are assembling voter lists, using means that are unethical or unlawful or both. 4/
At the moment, the issue of contempt of court by USPS. Today, EPIC, an electronic privacy rights organization, filed suit over how DHS is assembling voter lists. So, the only issue before Judge Talwani today was whether to order a preliminary injunction against USPS’s plan. 5/
As of this moment, Talwani has not yet ruled on the preliminary injunction issue, though I expect her ruling any time now. Meanwhile, the Trump DoJ has done something highly irregular. Today, they filed an emergency appeal of Talwani’s existing Temporary Restraining Order, the 14 day prohibition, directly to the Supreme Court, BEFORE the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled on their appeal to it. 6/
Generally speaking, a 14 day TRO isn’t appealable at all, because doesn’t have the finality or effective finality that is a prerequisite to an appealable trial court ruling. The basic premise is that litigants aren’t allowed to keep disrupting trial court proceedings by immediately appealing trial judges’ orders during the pre-trial and trial periods. 7/
But the Trump regime is using appeals to
a) get to the Roberts Six as fast as possible, because the Six are so sympathetic to letting Trump dismantle elections in this county
b) create disruption, confusion, and chaos for state election officials and the voting public. 8/
Still waiting for a ruling from Judge Talwani on today’s proceedings in her court. Meanwhile, I. the Trump DoJ’s appeal of her previous injunctive relief to the Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who hears emergency appeals arising from the 1st Circuit, has given the pro-democracy plaintiffs until September 8 to respond to DoJ’s request for emergency action by the Supreme Court. 9/
