Reed & Whitehouse Join Colleagues to Demand USPS Uphold Federal Law Over Trump’s Illegal Executive Order to Restrict Mail-In Voting

WASHINGTON, DC –
U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) joined Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee; Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee; and Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, along with 31 of their Democratic colleagues in pressing the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to uphold current federal law over President Trump’s attempt to unconstitutionally seize federal control over state-run elections.
In an attempt to turn the Postal Service into an election administrator and regulator, President Trump signed an executive order on March 31 that would direct USPS to create and maintain “Mail-in Absentee Participations Lists” to determine which voters are eligible to receive and cast absentee ballots through the mail. The executive order is being challenged in the courts by a coalition of Democratic state attorneys general, including Rhode Island.
The USPS is supposed to be a nonpartisan entity whose only priority is to deliver the mail. In a letter to USPS, the senators warned that Trump’s executive order would have a chilling effect on the eligibility of American voters to exercise their constitutional right to vote by imposing unnecessary barriers and would corrupt the independent mission of the Postal Service to determine who can vote by mail.
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The Constitution provides no role for the President in regulating federal elections. And no statute delegates to the President any authority to regulate elections or voter eligibility either, including via USPS
,”
wrote the senators
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By issuing the executive order, however, the President is attempting to unconstitutionally consolidate power to personally regulate American elections
.”
The senators continued:
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These directives clearly infringe on the states’ and Congress’ constitutional role to regulate the manner in which federal elections are held and would deny eligible voters their ability to cast a ballot. The prohibition on transmitting ballots from individuals not on the absentee voter list acts as a ban on vote-by-mail for any state unwilling to share its absentee voter lists with USPS or any voter who happens to be excluded from the list. Furthermore, under this executive order, it is the Postal Service who will have the final say about whether to transmit a voter’s absentee ballots to election officials—granting USPS the ability to disenfranchise American voters.
”
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For over 250 years, the Postal Service has bound our country together with a constitutionally recognized mail service, and for 250 years, the American people have democratically elected their leaders. Any attempt to effectuate this order would violate the Constitution, break these bonds, and threaten the foundations of American democracy
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the senators concluded.
In addition to Leader Schumer and Senators Peters, Padilla, Durbin, Reed, and Whitehouse, the letter was sent by U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark Warner (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
Full text of the letter can be found
here
and continues below:
Dear Chairwoman McReynolds, Vice Chairman Kan, Governor Stroman, Governor Tangherlini, and Postmaster General Steiner:
We write regarding an alarming development related to election mail and American democracy. On March 31, President Trump issued an executive order that seeks to transform the United States Postal Service (USPS) into an election administration agency with the power to determine who can vote by mail and to establish ballot specifications.1 The executive order is a blatant violation of the Constitution and statutes governing postal operations. We demand you follow the law and not implement this executive order.
The right to vote is the most sacred and cherished right of the American people. It is the bedrock of American democracy. The Framers of our Constitution understood this and accordingly vested the primary authority to regulate the “times, places, and manner” of federal elections with the states subject to alterations by statute enacted by Congress.2 The Constitution similarly vests the authority to determine the eligibility of voters with the states.3 The Constitution provides no role for the President in regulating federal elections. And no statute delegates to the President any authority to regulate elections or voter eligibility either, including via USPS.
By issuing the executive order, however, the President is attempting to unconstitutionally consolidate power to personally regulate American elections. Specifically, the order directs USPS to conduct a rulemaking to establish specifications for election mail and create and maintain a Postal Service Mail-In and Absentee Participation List. Remarkably, the order prohibits the delivery of absentee ballots from individuals that are not on the USPS absentee voter list. These directives clearly infringe on the states’ and Congress’ constitutional role to regulate the manner in which federal elections are held and would deny eligible voters their ability to cast a ballot. The prohibition on transmitting ballots from individuals not on the absentee voter list acts as a ban on vote-by-mail for any state unwilling to share its absentee voter lists with USPS or any voter who happens to be excluded from the list. Furthermore, under this executive order, it is the Postal Service who will have the final say about whether to transmit a voter’s absentee ballots to election officials—granting USPS the ability to disenfranchise American voters. Were the Postal Service to issue such a regulation, it would be a flagrantly illegal and unconstitutional attempt to regulate federal elections and would disenfranchise voters.
As you know, the President does not possess the power to manage the operations of the Postal Service or direct USPS or the Postmaster General to enact these requirements or rules. In 1970, when Congress reorganized the Post Office Department into the now United States Postal Service, it created “an independent establishment of the executive branch,” and it bestowed the postal power on the Board of Governors of the Postal Service—not the President.4 This independence is a hallmark of the Postal Service and its operations.
Similarly, it is universally understood that the Postal Service does not regulate or administer American elections. As the Postal Service acknowledged in a rulemaking just last year, “the Postal Service does not administer elections, establish the rules or deadlines that govern elections, or determine whether or how election jurisdictions utilize the mail.”5 As the Postal Service has stated, they do not advocate for particular forms of voting and simply serve to collect and transport the mail to its destination, including election mail.6 This neutral and apolitical role to transmit the mail is critical to ensuring trust in the electorate and facilitating American elections, while respecting the constitutional role of the states. To prepare for the 2026 midterm elections, USPS already released its 2026 Election Mail and Political Mail Guide and issued its 2026 General Election Mail Preparedness Memorandum to every employee in January.7 During the 2024 general election, the Postal Service successfully delivered over 99 million ballots and over 97% were delivered in fewer than three days.8 The Postal Service must continue this proud and successful tradition.
Accordingly, the Postal Service should not implement the President’s unconstitutional executive order. Like the President, the Postal Service has no authority to regulate the manner of voting in federal elections, nor who is eligible to vote by mail in such elections. For over 250 years, the Postal Service has bound our country together with a constitutionally recognized mail service, and for 250 years, the American people have democratically elected their leaders. Any attempt to effectuate this order would violate the Constitution, break these bonds, and threaten the foundations of American democracy.
Sincerely,