Dem
47
GOP
53
The U.S. Postal Service has proposed a new rule that would politicize the mail in a previously unthinkable way. It would instruct states to provide lists of eligible absentee voters so it could refuse to deliver ballots to anyone not on the lists. If a state refuses to comply, the USPS would not deliver any ballots in the state.
Where this came from we don't know. We do know that it would be consistent with an XO Donald Trump signed in March ordering the USPS not to deliver ballots in states where the governor has not complied with Trump's election orders, including a demand to turn over lists of voters to his administration. But Trump's XOs are not binding on the USPS, which is an independent agency, with that autonomy established by the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970.
The problem is not Louis DeJoy. He resigned as postmaster general on July 14, 2025, so this is not his baby. The new postmaster general is David Steiner. He was born in Alameda County, CA, graduated from LSU with a degree in accounting, got a law degree from UCLA, and worked for several law firms doing corporate law. He later worked for Waste Management and eventually became president of the company. He has been on the FedEx board of directors since 2009 and as its lead independent director since 2013. He was chosen by the USPS Board of Governors, but Donald Trump backed the choice.
Democrats are furious about the proposed rule. The USPS has no right to censor or block First-Class Mail in any way and it has even less right to intervene in elections, which the Constitution says are to be run by the states. Screening mail to see if the recipients are on some list that is likely to be riddled with omissions and mistakes is almost certainly an illegal involvement of the federal government in state affairs. Furthermore, it is inconceivable that any list of voters produced by a state would be fully accurate and up to date. It would take time to produce such a list, but people change their names due to marriage, divorce, and gender reassignment; people move; people die. Many people have the same name (see above for more on this point). Getting this right would be impossible. The rule would have the greatest impact on states that have all mail-in elections.
In a lawsuit before a federal judge in Boston, a coalition of state attorneys general argued that the rule represented impermissible federal intrusion in state elections. They also said that it would be expensive, chaotic and impossible to carry out with fewer than 150 days left before the elections.
It is clear that this proposal is in line with Trump's goal of having all elections be in-person and only on Election Day. He has opposed mail-in voting (except for himself) for years because he believes Democrats use it more than Republicans. His attempts to get Congress to codify his goals in law have failed, but bullying the USPS to follow an XO that is not binding on it is simply a new tactic to get what he wants because he can't get it through the regular order. (V)