ABSTRACT

On Friday, federal judges issued rulings blocking enforcement of President Donald Trump's mail-ballot executive order and rejecting his third attempt to move his hush money conviction to federal court, while a separate judge declined to immediately block a second birthright citizenship order; separately, Trump signed an executive order to establish a U.S. Space Academy and pledged to allow farmers and ranchers to process their own food.

PBS NewsHour

Federal judges issue rulings on mail ballot order and hush money conviction as Trump signs space academy directive

Aug 28, 2026, 1:55 PM

Context

The Trump administration filed a notice of appeal Friday after U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani in Boston issued a new ruling blocking implementation of Trump's mail-ballot executive order for the next two weeks. The order would permit the U.S. Postal Service to refuse to deliver ballots from states that do not submit voter eligibility lists and follow a uniform envelope style. Talwani found that states lack sufficient time and money to design new ballots, update systems, and train officials to upload voter data to the Postal Service before the midterm elections. The first mail ballots for the general election are scheduled to go out on September 4, according to the Associated Press.

The Supreme Court had previously allowed the mail-ballot plan to move forward on procedural grounds without deciding its legality. The case now goes to the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, though it could return to the Supreme Court. The White House described the executive order as 'commonsense measures' aimed at protecting ballot security and called Talwani's ruling 'unreasoned and unlawful.' The plaintiffs — Democrats and voting rights groups — argue that the Constitution grants states, and in some cases Congress, the power to make election rules. According to the Associated Press, nearly one-third of Americans vote by mail, and election officials say there is not enough time to revise their systems to comply with the new Postal Service directives.

In a separate federal courthouse in New York, Judge Alvin Hellerstein rejected Trump's bid to move his state-court hush money conviction to federal court for the third time. Hellerstein wrote that Trump's reasons were 'neither new nor legally sufficient' and that 'paying hush money to an adult film star or engaging in a cover-up of an embarrassment are not subsumed in presidential immunity.' Trump was convicted in May 2024 of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to adult film actor Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. He was sentenced to an unconditional discharge. The 2nd Circuit had previously ordered Hellerstein to reconsider his prior denial, directing him to closely review evidence Trump claimed was related to official acts.

Hellerstein also questioned the Trump legal team's strategy, noting that rather than immediately seeking to move the case to federal court after the Supreme Court's July 2024 presidential immunity ruling, Trump's lawyers first asked the state trial judge to throw out the verdict, waiting nearly two months before approaching the federal court. He called this a 'strategic decision' that may have cost Trump the right to pursue federal remedies. By midafternoon Friday, Trump's legal team had filed a notice of appeal, with a spokesperson calling the ruling 'baseless and lawless' and vowing to file 'a powerful appeal.' State prosecutors did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to PBS NewsHour.

On the birthright citizenship front, U.S. District Court Judge Deborah Boardman, a Biden appointee, declined Friday to immediately approve a temporary restraining order blocking Trump's second executive order restricting birthright citizenship, which Trump signed on August 6. Boardman described the order as 'unprecedented' but instructed the plaintiffs — a coalition of immigrant families and advocacy groups including We Are CASA and the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project — to file a revised complaint addressing the new order directly, after which she indicated she would schedule briefings to reconsider the restraining order. The Supreme Court had struck down Trump's first birthright citizenship order in a 6–3 decision on June 30, ruling it unconstitutional. The second order is narrower, seeking to deny citizenship to children born to parents deemed 'alien enemies,' 'terrorists,' those engaging in commercial transactions to obtain birthright citizenship, or those from U.S. territories where citizenship is not conferred by federal statute.

At NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Trump signed an executive order creating the U.S. Space Academy, intended to train personnel for the U.S. Space Force, NASA, and the civilian space industry. Trump cited 'the rapid growth of the Space Force and the commercial space industry and the expansion of our ambitions to the moon and far beyond' as motivations. He offered few details about the academy's structure or location, saying only that he would choose a location 'very shortly.' According to Ars Technica, the academy is likely to be similar in design to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and would offer a four-year degree covering human and non-human spaceflight operations, ground control, space vehicle design, and orbital debris mitigation, among other disciplines. No location has been confirmed, though proximity to existing NASA facilities is under consideration. Trump also became the first president to call U.S. astronauts aboard the International Space Station from Mission Control, and awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the Artemis II crew, who flew around the moon earlier this year, according to NBC News.

Also on Friday, Trump pledged via his Truth Social platform to authorize legal documents allowing farmers and ranchers to process their own food, framing it as an effort to break what he described as a monopoly held by four large food processing companies. The move came amid criticism from agricultural stakeholders, including Republican lawmakers, over Trump's decision to temporarily pause tariffs on up to 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef imports. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said there would be 'big announcements' next week and described the ability to feed and fuel the country domestically as 'a matter of national security,' according to The Guardian. However, the legal basis for the administration's actions remains unclear; a bill that would ease USDA inspection requirements for small ranchers selling meat directly to consumers is stalled in Congress. Republican Congressman Thomas Massie said Trump's action was 'great' but argued 'it should be a law, not just an executive order.'

All Perspectives

Trump administration / White House (mail ballot order): The White House describes the mail-ballot executive order as 'commonsense measures' aimed at protecting ballot security and called Judge Talwani's blocking ruling 'unreasoned and unlawful.' The administration filed a notice of appeal on Friday.

Plaintiffs / voting rights groups (mail ballot order): Democrats and voting rights groups argue that the Constitution grants states, and in some cases Congress, the power to make election rules — not the president or the Postal Service. Election officials contend there is insufficient time to revise their systems to comply with the new directives. The plaintiffs did not have immediate comment on the appeal, according to the Associated Press.

Judge Indira Talwani (mail ballot ruling): Talwani found that states do not have the time or money to design and produce new ballots, update their systems, and train officials to upload voter data to the Postal Service in the short time remaining before the midterm elections.

Trump legal team (hush money conviction): A spokesperson for Trump's legal team called Hellerstein's ruling 'baseless and lawless,' saying 'The Supreme Court's historic decision on Immunity, the Federal and New York State Constitutions, and other established legal precedent mandate that the Witch Hunt perpetrated by the Manhattan DA be removed to federal court, and immediately overturned and dismissed.' The team announced it would file 'a powerful appeal.' Trump lawyer Jeffrey Wall argued that prosecutors rushed to trial instead of waiting for the Supreme Court's presidential immunity decision and that the legal team was crunched for time after the ruling because sentencing was scheduled just ten days later.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein (hush money ruling): Hellerstein wrote that Trump's reasons for renewing his request were 'neither new nor legally sufficient,' that 'paying hush money to an adult film star or engaging in a cover-up of an embarrassment are not subsumed in presidential immunity,' and that 'There is no way that discussions regarding hush money payments to cover up the President's relations with Stormy Daniels could be an official act.' He also described Trump's legal team as seeking a 'second bite at the apple,' a result 'the law disfavors,' and suggested their decision to approach the state court first before the federal court was a 'strategic decision' that may have cost Trump his federal remedies.

State prosecutors (hush money case): State prosecutors did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to PBS NewsHour.

Judge Deborah Boardman (birthright citizenship): Boardman declined to immediately issue a temporary restraining order but described Trump's second executive order as 'unprecedented,' and indicated she would schedule further briefings once a revised complaint was filed.

Plaintiff coalition (birthright citizenship): The coalition of immigrant families and advocacy groups argued that 'it is simply not up to the Executive Branch to decide who is a citizen by birth in the United States' and that class members are 'entitled to have their citizenship recognized by the Executive Branch no matter how many overlapping Executive Orders the President issues in his attempt to override the Constitution.' They also contended there was no need to amend their complaint before the court could issue further injunctive relief.

Trump administration (birthright citizenship): Trump championed the second birthright citizenship executive order as a means of defending against 'the risks posed by malign foreign actors who attempt to swindle American citizens by taking advantage of the generosity of our Nation.' He has argued that children of irregular or temporary immigrants are not 'subject to the jurisdiction' of the United States and should not receive birthright citizenship.

Trump (Space Academy): Trump said 'the rapid growth of the Space Force and the commercial space industry and the expansion of our ambitions to the moon and far beyond the moon' inspired the academy, and that 'we need to educate and train an entire generation of skilled service members, engineers, civil operators and everything else.' He told the Houston audience he would choose a location 'very shortly,' and drew comparisons to West Point, Annapolis, the Air Force Academy, and the Coast Guard Academy.

Lori Garver, former NASA deputy administrator (Space Academy): Garver said the academy idea could be helpful for the US space program and its future workforce, but cautioned that not enough details are yet known. Her primary concern was that modeling the academy after military service academies would conflate NASA's peaceful, civil exploration mandate with military activities undertaken by the Space Force. 'NASA's charter and legal foundation calls for a civilian agency separate from the military,' she said. 'Structuring a feeder college along the lines of a military academy strikes me as ill-conceived.' She also noted that NASA has not historically had difficulty attracting young talent.

Astronaut Jack Hathaway (Space Academy): Hathaway, a U.S. Navy officer, celebrated the announcement, telling Trump: 'I graduated from the Naval Academy. I'm sure they're more than excited to support it and have it on board.'

Astronaut Jessica Meir (Space Academy): Meir, the current space station mission commander, said the crew 'will continue doing our best to inspire all of the bright minds and the next generation as well.'

Trump (cattle ranchers / food processing): Trump praised farmers and ranchers on Truth Social as 'smart, efficient, and immaculately CLEAN' and wrote that agriculture had 'always been a number one priority for me.' He described the four major food processing companies as a 'very non competitive' and 'powerful monopoly' with 'much of its ownership based outside of the U.S.,' and announced he was 'authorizing legal documents to be drawn in order to allow Farmers and Ranchers to be given the right to PROCESS THEIR OWN FOOD.'

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins: Rollins said there would be 'big announcements' next week to facilitate the president's plan, described the initiative as 'a matter of national security,' and outlined that her department would waive 'red tape in processing,' expand ranchers' ability to 'sell across state lines,' and take other measures.

Republican lawmakers / Rep. Thomas Massie (cattle / food processing): Republican lawmakers warned that 'flooding' stores with foreign beef imports would harm US ranchers and represents a short-term solution that could hinder herd rebuilding amid a 75-year low. Rep. Thomas Massie said Trump's action was 'great' but 'it should be a law, not just an executive order.'

Position not represented in the source reporting: Manhattan District Attorney's office (hush money case) — prosecutors did not respond to comment requests and their current appellate strategy is not described in any source.

Where sources differ

The Independent describes Judge Hellerstein as a Bill Clinton appointee, while PBS NewsHour does not characterize his appointing president but describes him in the context of multiple rulings. The sources do not otherwise disagree on Hellerstein's identity but The Independent's characterization differs from PBS NewsHour's reference to him as a federal judge without naming his appointing president.
On the Space Academy, NBC News reports Trump signed an executive order to create the academy, while Ars Technica describes the academy idea as remaining 'in its formative stages' and does not specifically confirm a signed executive order, focusing instead on likely curricular content and unanswered structural questions.

Gaps & Unknowns

The sources do not establish the specific legal grounds on which the 1st Circuit or Supreme Court might ultimately rule on the mail-ballot executive order.
The plaintiffs in the mail-ballot case did not provide immediate comment on the administration's appeal.
State prosecutors in the hush money case did not respond to requests for comment, leaving their current litigation strategy unaddressed.
The sources do not clarify whether the 2nd Circuit will expedite consideration of Trump's appeal of Hellerstein's latest hush money ruling.
The precise timeline for Judge Boardman's rescheduled hearings on the birthright citizenship restraining order is not established.
The legal mechanism by which the administration intends to allow farmers and ranchers to process their own food — and whether existing statutory authority supports an executive order to that effect — is not confirmed.
No location has been identified for the U.S. Space Academy, and the sources do not establish a timeline for the decision beyond Trump's statement that it would be chosen 'very shortly.'
The curriculum, governance structure, and funding arrangements for the proposed Space Academy are not confirmed in any source.
Whether NASA leadership or the U.S. Space Force have formally commented on or endorsed the Space Academy proposal is not established.
The sources do not detail the scope or timing of the Artemis II mission beyond noting the crew flew around the moon.

Sources & Further Reading

Associated Press — original — by Lindsay Whitehurst
Ars Technica — by Eric Berger
PBS NewsHour — by Michael R. Sisak, Associated Press
Al Jazeera English — by Al Jazeera Staff
The Independent — by Ariana Baio
NBC News — by Alexandra Marquez
The Guardian US — by Shrai Popat in Washington

Read the original at Associated Press

Related Coverage