Cortez Masto, Colleagues Demand USPS Abandon Proposed Rule to Carry Out Trump’s Executive Order Restricting Vote by Mail

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), alongside the entire Senate Democratic Caucus, joined a letter led by Senators Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) demanding the United States Postal Service (USPS) abandon its proposed rule to implement President Trump’s executive order restricting voting by mail. On March 31 of this year, President Trump signed an executive order that mandates states share their voter lists with the federal government and redesign election mail. Under the executive order, USPS would only deliver mail ballots to voters on a list approved by the federal government. However, under the Trump Administration, voters have been routinely falsely identified as noncitizens. “[On] June 2, 2026, USPS published a proposed rule that, if finalized, would establish President Trump’s control over federal elections and allow USPS to adjudicate who can and cannot vote by mail. This proposed rule risks disenfranchising millions of voters. We […] insist that you follow the law, refuse to implement President Trump’s Executive Order, and withdraw this presidentially-directed proposed rule,” wrote the Senators. The Senators warned that the proposed rule would create a federally controlled national list of absentee voters, raising serious concerns about potential misuse and abuse. In court filings, the Administration has acknowledged that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is already in discussions with USPS about potentially comparing the list to DHS datasets. The Senators raised concerns that combining USPS data with unreliable federal records could lead to eligible voters being disenfranchised, or voters and election officials being unfairly targeted for investigation. “Ultimately, the proposed rule seeks to create a centralized national absentee voter database with individualized barcodes connected to the voters’ names under the control of the President that contains the voting information of millions of Americans. That information would be ripe for potential abuse or improper disclosure potentially imperiling the integrity of American elections,” they continued. “Accordingly, we insist that the Postal Service abandon this proposed regulation and return to its core mission of providing universal postal services to every American. The Constitution and federal law demand nothing less,” they concluded. The full text of the letter can be found here . Senator Cortez Masto has consistently stood up to President Trump’s illegal attempts to take away Americans’ voting rights. She has previously joined legislation to block this executive order. Cortez Masto helped Democrats defeat the SAVE America Act and called attention to the impact it and other so-called “election integrity” measures by the Trump Administration would have on voting access for Tribal communities. She has fought to protect election workers from being targets and has introduced bipartisan legislation to ensure that mail is processed locally, ensuring the timely delivery of mail ballots. ###