Todd Blanche says Trump administration will comply with mail ballot ruling

Trump claims Supreme Court decisions set the US ‘back 100 years’ after controversial ballot rule change blocked.

US Attorney General Todd Blanche answers questions during a White House press briefing on Tuesday, addressing the Supreme Court decision to reject Trump's mail-in ballot restrictions for the November midterm elections [Kevin Dietsch/AFP]

United States Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Trump administration would comply with the Supreme Court’s decision blocking new restrictions on mail-in voting, while defending US President Donald Trump’s criticism of the justices.

On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected the Trump administration’s plan to implement new US Postal Service (USPS) restrictions on mail-in ballots ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, leaving existing voting procedures in place.

list 1 of 3 US appeals court rejects Trump bid to implement new vote-by-mail rules

list 2 of 3 US Supreme Court rejects Trump mail ballot restrictions ahead of midterms

list 3 of 3 US Supreme Court rejects Trump’s plans on postal ballots: Why it matters

“Of course we are going to comply with the Supreme Court’s decision,” Blanche told reporters on Tuesday, a day after the court dismissed the new requirements.

The court’s decision left in place a lower-court order blocking a USPS rule that would have required states to provide voter-specific data and use agency-approved envelopes with barcodes.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh agreed with the decision, saying state and local officials did not have enough time to implement the rule before the midterm election. Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented.

Trump lashed out at the court on Tuesday, including the three justices he appointed during his first term, calling the decision among the “most destructive, hurtful, and damaging” in US history.

“This Supreme Court is bullied and cajoled by the Radical Left into making decisions that have set America back at least a hundred years,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “These are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court, they are merely a shell of their original selves.”

Trump appointed Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, helping establish the court’s 6-3 conservative majority.

Blanche defended Trump’s criticism of the court, saying the president should voice concerns about another branch of government in a democracy.

“As far as President Trump’s truth about the justices, he is very frustrated,” Blanche said. “He has every right. And indeed he should communicate his concerns with the Supreme Court whenever he has them.”

特朗普声称，最高法院的裁决使美国“倒退了100年”，此前一项备受争议的投票规则变更被阻止。

美国司法部长托德·布兰奇周二在白宫新闻发布会上回答了记者提问，谈到了最高法院驳回特朗普对11月中期选举邮寄选票限制的决定。[凯文·迪奇/法新社]

美国司法部长托德·布兰奇表示，特朗普政府将遵守最高法院阻止对邮寄投票施加新限制的裁决，同时为美国总统唐纳德·特朗普对大法官们的批评辩护。

周一，最高法院驳回了特朗普政府在 11 月 3 日中期选举前对邮寄选票实施新的美国邮政服务 (USPS) 限制的计划，维持了现有的投票程序。

美国上诉法院驳回特朗普实施新的邮寄投票规则的请求（共3条，此为第1条）

美国最高法院驳回特朗普对中期选举邮寄选票的限制（共3条，此为第2条）

美国最高法院驳回特朗普的邮寄选票计划（共3项，此为第3项）：为何此事至关重要

“我们当然会遵守最高法院的裁决，”布兰奇周二告诉记者，此前一天，最高法院驳回了这些新要求。

法院的裁决维持了下级法院的命令，该命令阻止了美国邮政总局的一项规定，该规定要求各州提供选民特定数据并使用经邮政总局批准的带有条形码的信封。

布雷特·卡瓦诺大法官同意这一裁决，认为州和地方官员没有足够的时间在期中选举前落实这项规定。塞缪尔·阿利托大法官和克拉伦斯·托马斯大法官则持反对意见。

周二，特朗普猛烈抨击了最高法院，包括他第一任期内任命的三名大法官，称该决定是美国历史上“最具破坏性、最伤人、最具损害性”的决定之一。

特朗普在Truth Social网站上发帖写道：“最高法院受到激进左派的胁迫和哄骗，做出的决定让美国倒退了至少一百年。这些人已经不是我面试的那些最高法院大法官了，他们只是空壳而已。”

特朗普任命了尼尔·戈萨奇、布雷特·卡瓦诺和艾米·科尼·巴雷特，从而确立了最高法院 6 比 3 的保守派多数。

布兰奇为特朗普批评最高法院辩护，称总统在一个民主国家应该对政府的另一个部门表达关切。

“至于特朗普总统对大法官们的看法，他非常沮丧，”布兰奇说。“他完全有理由感到沮丧。而且，他确实应该在任何时候向最高法院表达他的担忧。”