Amicus Brief in Appeal Against Executive Order 14399

The Society for the Rule of Law has filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in DSCC, et al. v. Trump, et al., in support of a preliminary injunction against the Trump Administration’s Executive Order 14399—an Order that attempts to use the United States Postal Service to collect lists of voters using mail-in or absentee ballots. The brief supports the appellants in attempting to reverse the U.S. District Court of D.C.’s denial of the injunction.

This brief focuses on Section 3(b)(i)-(iv) of EO 14399  (“Section 3(b)(i)-(iv)”). Part I below shows that under recent Supreme Court precedents, there is already sufficient harm for standing, ripeness, and irreparable harm, particularly as the appellees have stated that they may later argue that it is too close to the election to enjoin their illegal rules. Parts II and III show that Section 3(b)(i)-(iv) exceeds the President’s power because it directs the USPS to violate at least three statutes in ways that the USPS cannot cure. Part II shows incurable violations of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (“NVRA”) and the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (“HAVA”) because those statutes direct that only state officials—never the USPS—have a role in providing or administering any voting list or modifying a voting system. In addition, Part III shows that 39 U.S.C. § 401(2) also precludes the USPS from issuing regulations under which it would ever do any of those non-postal functions. Even if that provision were ambiguous—and it is not— federalism principles and the major questions doctrine each would require clear statutory authorization, which is conspicuously lacking.

Read the full brief here. For press inquiries, please contact [email protected].

# # #