The ruling forces the Department to deliver, by October 31, a formal statement of reasons for why it rejected Lehman’s election complaint. The decision exposes the government’s repeated efforts, under both Biden and now Trump, to obstruct the case and shield the UAW bureaucracy from accountability. Lehman’s complaint charges that the election violated the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) after the Department of Labor dismissed his grievances despite evidence that hundreds of thousands of workers never received ballots. The Department of Labor first rejected Lehman’s complaint in August 2025—without issuing reasons. Responding to the government’s arguments, Lehman said the invocation of the shutdown “only underscores the real character of this administration’s policies.