Legal victory for Trump: The Supreme Court gives him the green light to proceed against mail-in voting ahead of the midterm elections

On Monday, the Supreme Court allowed President Donald Trump's executive order to tighten restrictions on mail-in voting to move forward. The ruling authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to begin compiling state-specific lists of individuals it determines are eligible to vote. The measure applies to the states that challenged Trump's order, all of which are governed by Democrats. Despite this, it is still unclear to what extent the measure can be implemented before the upcoming midterm elections.

Trump's executive order also sought to require the U.S. Postal Service to obtain lists of eligible voters from states that distribute mail-in ballots. Those lists would include information intended to allow the government to track mail-in ballots. However, a separate ruling by a lower court blocked that part of the order nationwide, meaning further legal action will be necessary before the Postal Service can implement the requirement.

The Supreme Court's ruling could still be followed by new legal challenges, which would potentially delay the administration's efforts to implement the measure. The timeline is particularly tight, as several states are expected to begin mailing ballots to voters in the coming weeks, leaving little time to make significant changes to their election procedures.

Second ruling in Trump's favor in less than a week

The Supreme Court's order comes just three days after its chief justice, John Roberts, temporarily authorized Trump to resume construction of the White House ballroom. That decision came after the administration filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, following the court's ruling that Trump lacked congressional authorization to move forward with the project.

The president celebrated the progress on the White House ballroom project the day after the high court's decision, posting on his official Truth Social account alongside a photo of the construction site: "Tremendous work has been done on the magnificent BALLROOM/MILITARY COMPLEX being built on the White House grounds!"