The Supreme Court on Monday blocked a Trump administration plan to dramatically change how Americans vote by mail in the lead-up to the midterm elections, a major loss for President Trump, who has long claimed without evidence that fraud is rampant in mail voting. The ruling was a resounding win for Democratic-led states and voting rights groups, which had argued that the plan was unconstitutional and an existential threat to the democratic process. The Trump administration's efforts, they had said, would introduce chaos and confusion as early voting gears up in many states.

In a one-paragraph explanation, the court's majority wrote that the government was 'unlikely to succeed on the merits' at the conclusion of additional litigation on the issue. The majority's order was unsigned, which is typical in emergency rulings. It gave no vote count.

Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, one of the court's conservatives, wrote a one-paragraph concurrence. Writing for himself alone, he said that there was 'at least a fair prospect' that new mail ballot rules issued by the Postal Service fell within its purview under federal statutes, but that allowing those changes so close to the midterms 'would be arbitrary and capricious.' State and local elections officials, he wrote, would not have 'sufficient time to reasonably implement' the changes.

In an eight-page dissent, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, wrote that he would have allowed the Trump administration plan to go into effect for the midterms. Justice Alito called the legal challenge a 'Hail Mary' pass that was unlikely to succeed and that he believed the administration would ultimately win the case because the Postal Service has 'broad authority to regulate the mail.'.