Kavanaugh rejects applying the rule in 2026

Supreme Court associate justice, concurring

applying the rule in the 2026 elections would be arbitrary and capricious
Read the original text (opens in a new tab)Supreme Court stay denial, Kavanaugh concurrence and Alito dissent: USPS v. California · Supreme Court of the United StatesPDF p.1: concurrence; pp.2–9: dissent and Thomas’s express joinder

Source and context

Original text

Supreme Court stay denial, Kavanaugh concurrence and Alito dissent: USPS v. California (opens in a new tab) · Supreme Court of the United StatesPDF p.1: concurrence; pp.2–9: dissent and Thomas’s express joinder

About this source

The Court denies a stay of the preliminary injunction. Kavanaugh objects to applying the rule in 2026; Alito would grant the stay and Thomas joins him. This is emergency relief, not final disposition of every challenge to the executive order.

Before the quotation

The Court denies a stay.

After the quotation

His concurrence leaves later implementation open.

How this statement is classified

Condemned

Responding to: Applying the new USPS rule in the 2026 elections would be arbitrary and capricious because election officials lack sufficient implementation time.

The label describes this statement’s response within the context above.

Why this label?

Rejects the present rollout; later possibilities do not change that stance.

Recorded on
Published here

Corrections to this statement

These notices document reporting corrections, classification changes, and topic-label updates.

Reporting correction

Correction to: Statement by Brett Kavanaugh

Previous language
The published position event listed no source in its Sources field.
Corrected language
The event should link to Source #721, the Supreme Court’s USPS v. California order and opinions (PDF p. 1 for Kavanaugh’s concurrence).

The event’s quotation is supported by the existing primary source attached to its related claim, but the event itself omits that source from its Sources field. This correction adds the source citation only; the quotation, classification, and summary are unchanged.

This corrects our account of what happened.

Supreme Court stay denial, Kavanaugh concurrence and Alito dissent: USPS v. California (opens in a new tab) · Supreme Court of the United StatesPDF p.1: concurrence; pp.2–9: dissent and Thomas’s express joinder

The Court denies a stay of the preliminary injunction. Kavanaugh objects to applying the rule in 2026; Alito would grant the stay and Thomas joins him. This is emergency relief, not final disposition of every challenge to the executive order.

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Donald Trump

Republicans just got another bad decision from the United States Supreme Court ... It is a big loss for Republicans, and America itself.
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David Steiner

We have at all times acted within our legal authority to issue a rule to achieve those policies, but ultimately the courts will decide that question, and we will follow the court’s determination. It is that simple.” … “We deliver the mail. Someone else makes the rules. … Once that fight is finished, we’ll do whatever the courts say we can do.
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