Cantwell, Colleagues Demand USPS Abandon Proposed Rule to Carry Out President Trump’s Illegal Executive Order Restricting Vote by Mail

Cantwell, Colleagues Demand USPS Abandon Proposed Rule to Carry Out President Trump's Illegal Executive Order Restricting Vote by Mail

This week, Cantwell delivered a speech on the Senate floor calling out the Trump Administration's war on mail-in voting

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, joined her Senate Democratic colleagues sending a letter to the United States Postal Service (USPS) demanding the USPS abandon attempts to restrict voting by mail called for in an unconstitutional executive order from President Trump. Yesterday, a federal court correctly held the Executive Order unconstitutional, but that litigation may continue and there is no certainty that the USPS will terminate the rulemaking.

Sen. Cantwell previously joined her colleagues in urging USPS not to carry out the executive order, which would force states to submit absentee voters' information to the Postal Service for the creation of a federal mail-in voter list. Under the order, USPS could then refuse to deliver ballots to voters who are not included on that list, giving the agency an unprecedented and illegal role in the administration of American elections. USPS did not respond to that letter and has now issued a proposed rule that would ultimately allow the Postal Service to determine whether millions of Americans can receive and cast ballots through the mail. Moreover, yesterday, Postmaster General David Steiner testified before a Senate committee that USPS will not mail ballots in states that decline to turn over their voters' information. Steiner asserted that the plan will allow the Trump Administration plan to ensure "the right ballots are going to the right people."

This morning, a federal judge blocked key portions of President Trump's executive order, emphasizing that the power to oversee elections belongs to the states. In that case - brought by the State of Washington, 22 other states, and the District of Columbia - the court said clearly, "The Constitution does not grant the President any specific powers over elections." The court's ruling also says "no law enacted by Congress delegates authority to control mail-in voting to USPS."

"We write for a second time regarding the unconstitutional and illegal attempt to transform the United States Postal Service into an election administration agency controlled by the White House and President Trump," wrote the senators. "In April, 37 senators wrote to you after President Trump issued his Executive Order directing USPS to issue a rule to establish compulsory specifications for election mail and create a master absentee voter list of millions of American voters - with the power to refuse to deliver their ballots."

They continued: "Despite these grave and serious legal deficiencies, 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 again insist that you follow the law, refuse to implement President Trump's Executive Order, and withdraw this presidentially-directed proposed rule."

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," wrote the senators. "That information would be ripe for potential abuse or improper disclosure potentially imperiling the integrity of American elections."

"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 letter was led by U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-MI), Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). Joining Sen. Cantwell in sending the letter were U.S. Senators Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), John Fetterman (D-PA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), 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), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jon Ossoff (D-GA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Tina Smith (D-MN), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark Warner (D-VA), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

The letter can be read in full HERE.

This week, Sen. Cantwell delivered a speech on the Senate floor calling out the Trump Administration's war on mail-in voting as the latest frontier in a long history of voter disenfranchisement in the United States - especially a new rule that significantly delays the postmarking of ballots, leading to them being tossed out instead of counted. She highlighted a new rule implemented by the USPS in December under pressure from the Trump administration. The new rule changes where mail is postmarked, requiring it to be processed at a regional distribution center instead of a local post office, which can delay postmarking for up to several days.

Video of her speech this week is HERE; a transcript is HERE.