Amicus Brief Upholding Injunction Against Executive Order 14399

The Society for the Rule of Law has filed an amicus brief in the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, urging the Court to uphold the permanent injunction against the Trump Administration’s Executive Order 14399—an Order which directs the United States Postal Service to provide and administer lists of mail-in and absentee voters. The amicus brief argues that the permanent injunction must remain in place because the Executive Order has already begun to inflict harm, and because neither the U.S. Constitution nor any federal statute authorizes the USPS to exercise the powers claimed by the Order.

This brief focuses on Section 3(b), (d) of EO 14399 (“Section 3(b)”). Part I shows that under recent Supreme Court precedents, there is already sufficient harm for standing and ripeness, particularly as the federal movants have stated that they may later argue that it would then be too close to the election to enjoin their illegal rules. Part II shows that Section 3(b) is invalid in every application because it directs the USPS to exercise powers that the Constitution and Congress have withheld from the USPS. The National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (“NVRA”), the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (“HAVA”), and 39 U.S.C. §401(2) withhold from the USPS any regulatory role concerning any voting list or modifying any voting system.

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

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