The U.S. Postal Service will soon refuse to deliver mail-in ballots in states that fail to turn over lists of voters to the federal government under a newly proposed regulation, Postmaster General David Steiner confirmed on Wednesday.
The announcement by David Steiner during a Senate hearing ignited immediate backlash from Democrats, who warned the policy could disenfranchise millions of voters ahead of the upcoming general election. The directive stems from an executive order signed in March by President Donald Trump, which aims to tighten mail-in voting rules.
“If a state refuses to turn their absentee voter list over to the federal government, will the Postal Service still mail their ballots under this proposed rule?” asked Sen. Gary Peters, a Michigan Democrat.
“Under our proposed regulation, no,” Steiner replied.
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The tense exchange before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee marked the clearest acknowledgment yet that the rule threatens to upend voting by mail across the country. If implemented, the rule would introduce a new federal condition on mail ballot delivery tied to voter data submission requirements.
The regulation requires states to submit lists of anticipated mail voters to the agency. This would heavily affect the eight states and Washington, D.C., that conduct elections entirely by mailing every voter a ballot, including California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Washington.
Critics accuse the administration of attempting to influence the election through federal agencies. “It’s just another backdoor way of trying to influence this election,” said Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat. On Tuesday, every Senate Democrat and two independents signed a joint letter urging Steiner to withdraw the plan, warning it would impose massive operational burdens by forcing the agency to build an entirely new system and database to process millions of ballots just months before the election.
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Trump and his aides argue the restrictions are necessary to prevent noncitizen voting, an occurrence that independent studies show is exceedingly rare. Steiner defended the regulation as an effort to determine adherence to federal law and facilitate law enforcement, denying political motivation. He also stated USPS would comply with any court orders, though a federal judge recently refused to block the order.
The political standoff rippled across the capital Wednesday as Trump abruptly canceled a scheduled U.S. Capitol ceremony to sign a bipartisan housing bill. The president cited the Senate’s refusal to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require voters to show documents proving their citizenship.