USPS chief plans to withhold ballot delivery from states that defy Trump election order

The head of the U.S. Postal Service testified June 24 that USPS will not deliver mail-in ballots in states that refuse to hand over voter rolls tied to absentee ballot distribution in keeping with an election integrity order from President Donald Trump.

Postmaster General David Steiner made the remarks before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, defending a proposed rule that would require states to provide USPS with the names and barcodes tied to their mail-in ballots for federal elections before any ballots are delivered, according to Reuters. 

The proposed rule stems from Executive Order 14399, signed by Trump in March, which directed the Department of Homeland Security to compile lists of confirmed U.S. citizens eligible to vote in each state based on citizenship, naturalization, and other federal database records.

Steiner argued the plan mirrors what many states are already doing. USPS is making sure "we match the ballots that a state believes they're sending out to what actually gets sent out," he said.

All 47 Democratic senators sent a letter to the USPS within hours of Steiner’s testimony, urging the agency to withdraw the proposal and calling it an "unconstitutional and illegal attempt to transform USPS into an election administration agency controlled by the White House and President Trump."

Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, the top Democrat on the committee, said the rule amounts to manipulation. "The proposed rule basically coerces states to conform to these new requirements and hand over their absentee voter rolls, or face the consequences of not being able to vote by mail," Peters said. "That's unacceptable."

Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan called Steiner a "pawn" in what she described as Trump's effort to control election outcomes. 

"You are being used [by President Trump]," Slotkin said. "He does not believe elections that he loses are valid elections."

Trump has repeatedly said mail-in voting is prone to fraud. 

A federal judge last week ruled that Democratic-led states and voting rights groups may proceed with lawsuits challenging the March executive order, leaving the proposed USPS rule under legal cloud heading into the 2026 midterm election cycle.