Washington, D.C. — Today, Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Rep. Joe Morelle, Ranking Member of the Committee on House Administration, led 169 Members of Congress in sending a public comment letter to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) urging the agency to reject its proposed rule restricting ballot mail in federal elections. If the new USPS rule is implemented, any state that does not turn over sensitive voter data to the Trump Administration will not have its ballots delivered, potentially disenfranchising millions of eligible voters in non-compliant states. This new rule, in response to the Trump Administration’s Executive Order, is unconstitutional, undermines the Postal Service's universal service obligation, and makes it harder for Americans to exercise their right to vote by mail.
“The Trump Administration is weaponizing the United States Postal Service against American voters. Conditioning the delivery of ballots with partisan voter data demands is unconstitutional, undemocratic, and will potentially disenfranchise millions of eligible voters across the country,” said Ranking Member Robert Garcia.
“The President’s illegal executive order is nothing more than another attempt to silence voters and keep political power in the hands of Republicans. Voting by mail is safe and secure, and House Democrats will continue to combat these unlawful attempts to restrict access to the ballot,” said Ranking Member Joe Morelle.
Background information
In response to President Trump’s Executive Order directing the Postal Service to restrict mail-in voting, on June 2, 2026, the Postal Service issued a proposed rule titled “Ballot Mail for Federal Elections,” which requires specific envelope design and ballot tracking capabilities, and requires states to develop and provide the Postal Service with inaccurate State Mail-In and Absentee Participation Lists with personal information of registered voters.
The Postal Service would be required to verify that a voter’s information on a mail-in ballot matches the name and information on the respective State List to determine whether it can accept and process the mail. Beyond the fact that this proposed rule is unconstitutional and goes beyond the Postal Service’s statutory authority, the proposed rule creates insurmountable implementation and accuracy challenges for election administrators, and significant privacy and cybersecurity concerns. Any ballot mail that does not comply with this regulation would be returned to sender, and any state that fails to submit the required information would have its ballots withheld by the Postal Service.
The letter is signed by the following Members of Congress: Ranking Member Robert Garcia (CA-42), Ranking Member Joe Morelle (NY-25), Rep. Pete Aguilar (CA-33), Rep. Gabe Amo (RI-01), Rep. Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Rep. Jake Auchincloss (MA-04), Rep. Becca Balint (VT-AL), Rep. Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Rep. Joyce Beatty (OH-03), Rep. Wesley Bell (MO-01), Rep. Donald Beyer (VA-08), Rep. Sanford Bishop (GA-02), Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Rep. Brendan Boyle (PA-02), Rep. Julia Brownley (CA-26), Rep. Shontel Brown (OH-11), Rep. Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Rep. Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Rep. André Carson (IN-07), Rep. Troy Carter (LA-02), Rep. Greg Casar (TX-35), Rep. Ed Case (HI-01), Rep. Sean Casten (IL-06), Rep. Kathy Castor (FL-14), Rep. Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Rep. Judy Chu (CA-28), Rep. Gilbert Cisneros (CA-31), Rep. Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Rep. Katherine Clark (MA-05), Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05), Rep. Herbert Conaway (NJ-03), Rep. J. Correa (CA-46), Rep. Angie Craig (MN-02), Rep. Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Rep. Jason Crow (CO-06), Rep. Sharice Davids (KS-03), Rep. Danny Davis (IL-07), Rep. Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Rep. Diana DeGette (CO-01), Rep. Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Rep. Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Rep. Christopher Deluzio (PA-17), Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Rep. Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Rep. Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Rep. Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Rep. Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Rep. Shomari Figures (AL-02), Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07), Rep. Bill Foster (IL-11), Rep. Lois Frankel (FL-22), Rep. Laura Friedman (CA-30), Rep. Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Rep. John Garamendi (CA-08), Rep. Jesús García (IL-04), Rep. Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Rep. Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Rep. Maggie Goodlander (NH-02), Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), Rep. Adelita Grijalva (AZ-07), Rep. Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Rep. James Himes (CT-04), Rep. Steven Horsford (NV-04), Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06), Rep. Steny Hoyer (MD-05), Rep. Val Hoyle (OR-04), Rep. Jared Huffman (CA-02), Rep. Glenn Ivey (MD-04), Rep. Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08), Rep. Henry Johnson (GA-04), Rep. Julie Johnson (TX-32), Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), Rep. Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), Rep. Robin Kelly (IL-02), Rep. Timothy Kennedy (NY-26), Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17), Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Rep. Greg Landsman (OH-01), Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02), Rep. John Larson (CT-01), Rep. George Latimer (NY-16), Rep. Summer Lee (PA-12), Rep. Susie Lee (NV-03), Rep. Mike Levin (CA-49), Rep. Sam Liccardo (CA-16), Rep. Ted Lieu (CA-36), Rep. Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Rep. Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Rep. Seth Magaziner (RI-02), Rep. John Mannion (NY-22), Rep. Doris Matsui (CA-07), Rep. Lucy McBath (GA-06), Rep. April McClain Delaney (MD-06), Rep. Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), Rep. Betty McCollum (MN-04), Rep. Morgan McGarvey (KY-03), Rep. James McGovern (MA-02), Rep. Analilia Mejia (NJ-11), Rep. Christian Menefee (TX-18), Rep. Grace Meng (NY-06), Rep. Kweisi Mfume (MD-07), Rep. Dave Min (CA-47), Rep. Gwen Moore (WI-04), Rep. Kelly Morrison (MN-03), Rep. Seth Moulton (MA-06), Rep. Frank Mrvan (IN-01), Rep. Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Rep. Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Rep. Richard Neal (MA-01), Rep. Joe Neguse (CO-02), Rep. Donald Norcross (NJ-01), Rep. Eleanor Norton (DC-AL), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Rep. Johnny Olszewski (MD-02), Rep. Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Rep. Frank Pallone (NJ-06), Rep. Chris Pappas (NH-01), Rep. Nancy Pelosi (CA-11), Rep. Marie Perez (WA-03), Rep. Brittany Pettersen (CO-07), Rep. Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-02), Rep. Nellie Pou (NJ-09), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Rep. Mike Quigley (IL-05), Rep. Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Rep. Emily Randall (WA-06), Rep. Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Rep. Josh Riley (NY-19), Rep. Luz Rivas (CA-29), Rep. Deborah Ross (NC-02), Rep. Patrick Ryan (NY-18), Rep. Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Rep. Janice Schakowsky (IL-09), Rep. Hillary Scholten (MI-03), Rep. Robert Scott (VA-03), Rep. Terri Sewell (AL-07), Rep. Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Rep. Adam Smith (WA-09), Rep. Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Rep. Greg Stanton (AZ-04), Rep. Haley Stevens (MI-11), Rep. Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10), Rep. Emilia Sykes (OH-13), Rep. Mark Takano (CA-39), Rep. Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Rep. Bennie Thompson (MS-02), Rep. Mike Thompson (CA-04), Rep. Dina Titus (NV-01), Rep. Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Rep. Jill Tokuda (HI-02), Rep. Paul Tonko (NY-20), Rep. Norma Torres (CA-35), Rep. Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Rep. Lori Trahan (MA-03), Rep. Derek Tran (CA-45), Rep. Lauren Underwood (IL-14), Rep. Juan Vargas (CA-52), Rep. Marc Veasey (TX-33), Rep. Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), Rep. Eugene Vindman (VA-07), Rep. James Walkinshaw (VA-11), Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), Rep. Maxine Waters (CA-43), Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Rep. George Whitesides (CA-27), Rep. Nikema Williams (GA-05), Rep. Frederica Wilson (FL-24).
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