1-In loss for Trump, US Supreme Court decision on Mail In Ballots

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to let the U.S. Postal Service enforce a rule targeting mail-in ballots, dealing a setback to President Donald Trump's effort to restrict voting by mail ahead of November's midterm elections that will determine control of Congress.



The justices denied the Justice Department's request to lift a ruling by Boston-based U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani that blocked the Postal Service from enforcing the measure while legal challenges by states and voting-rights groups proceed.



The agency adopted the measure after Trump issued a March executive order aimed at tightening rules governing mail voting.



"The government is unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge to the District Court's preliminary injunction," the court said in its brief, one-paragraph order.



Justice Samuel Alito, joined by fellow conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, dissented from Monday's decision, comparing some of the challengers' claims to a "Hail Mary pass" that is "unlikely to be successfully completed," using a football analogy.



No other justice dissented publicly. The court has a 6-3 conservative majority.