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Supreme Court Case TrackerThe Court, in plain English

Emergency application

Presidential power over voting

Donald J. Trump, President of the United States v. California

Granted
No. 26A124Stay applicationFiled by the federal governmentPresented to Justice JacksonFrom United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

What did the Court do?

The Court granted the request on August 24, 2026: the lower court's ruling is on hold while the appeal continues.

Emergency rulings are temporary and do not decide the underlying case. Justice Sotomayor, Justice Kagan, and Justice Jackson would have ruled the other way.

Filed Ruled 28 days after filing

What's being asked

The federal government asks the Court to pause a Massachusetts federal court order blocking parts of President Trump’s election-related executive order. The states say the order intrudes on their power to run elections. It directs federal agencies to create citizenship lists, prioritize investigations of some election officials, and propose ballot-envelope tracking rules. The government argues the states’ lawsuit is premature.

What the Court did

The Court granted (approved) the request and paused (stayed) the Massachusetts district court order blocking parts of the directive during the First Circuit appeal. The pause also covers any timely request for Supreme Court review, but does not decide the underlying dispute. The order lists no vote count; Justice Sotomayor dissented (disagreed with the result), Justice Kagan signed her dissent, and Justice Jackson also dissented.

  • Dissented
  • Wrote separately
  • Vote not published
Dissenting · 3recorded against the Court's order
  1. Sotomayorwrote a dissent
  2. Kaganjoined Sotomayor's writing
  3. Jacksonwrote a dissent
Vote not published · 6the order does not say how they voted
  1. Roberts
  2. Thomas
  3. Alito
  4. Gorsuch
  5. Kavanaugh
  6. Barrett
The order records the positions of 3 of 9 justices. The Court usually does not say how each justice voted on an emergency application, so the rest are shown as not published.
Half of 70 rulings on applications where the Court asked for a response came 12 to 27 days after filing, and the median was 17 days; this one was ruled on 28 days after filing.

What it means

This temporary pause does not decide whether the executive order is lawful or whether the states can sue. The government’s appeal continues in the First Circuit. No related case on the main legal question is listed, and no argument is set for this application.

Separate writings

  • Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justice Kagan, dissenting

    Read (PDF)

  • Justice Jackson dissenting

    Read (PDF)

Sources

Facts on this page come from the Supreme Court docket, orders, and opinions for No. 26A124. The answers restate that record in plain words; explainer copy is written from the record and the filings only.

Checked October 4, 2026