DOJ asks judge to lift nationwide block on mail-in voting restrictions

The Department of Justice (DOJ) asked a federal judge in Massachusetts late Monday to lift a nationwide block on mail-in voting restrictions ahead of the November midterms. The DOJ wrote in a late-night filing that the Supreme Court’s ruling in a separate challenge to President Trump’s executive order “leaves no room for further dispute” in the case brought by several voting rights groups. “This is a textbook case for reconsideration,” Brett Shumate, assistant attorney general for the DOJ's Civil Division, and others wrote in the 6-page motion to Judge Indira Talwani. The high court said earlier Monday, over the dissent of its three liberal justices, that the judge had no authority to block Trump’s directive because the new U.S. Postal Service regulations had not yet been finalized when a group of Democratic-led states initially sued. “Federal courts review final rules, not proposed rules—and certainly not antecedent internal directives to propose a rule. If the Postal Service’s final rule harms the States, they may challenge that rule,” the court wrote. The Justice Department argues that specific language “plainly bars” the nationwide injunction from remaining in place. “Because it is now clear that this Court lacked jurisdiction to issue the preliminary injunction in this case, it must be vacated immediately,” officials wrote. The lawsuits target the president’s March executive order, which directed his administration to compile a list of verified U.S. citizens who are elig…