MANCHESTER, N.H., September 10 — Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01) is leading a congressional pushback against President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14399, which seeks to exert control over mail-in ballots ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Pappas, co-chair of the Congressional Postal Caucus, joined Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) and Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08) in leading 97 colleagues — 99 members in total — on a letter calling on Postmaster General David P. Steiner to revoke a U.S. Postal Service rule that codifies the executive order.
The lawmakers wrote that “the evidence is clear: voting by mail is safe, effective, and helps to ensure everyone is able to execute their constitutional right to vote.” They warned the rule risks harming the democratic process and damaging USPS’s relationship with millions of Americans who rely on mail delivery for ballots. Their caution did not stop there.
If the rule survives legal challenge, the members said, it would disrupt operations for tens of thousands of USPS employees, create new obstacles for tens of millions of voters who rely on mail-in ballots, and further erode public trust in elections.
A Separate Front at the Supreme Court
Pappas also joined a bipartisan coalition in filing an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in United States Postal Service, et al., v. State of California, et al., a lawsuit brought by a coalition of State Attorneys General against the USPS. The case challenges a Final Rule issued by USPS pursuant to Trump’s directive that imposes what the filing calls unconstitutional and unworkable restrictions on mail-in voting, including requiring states to provide a “citizenship verification list” and attempting to give USPS control over who can vote by mail.
In the brief, the amici curiae argue the order violates the separation of powers and usurps congressional authorities outlined in Article I of the U.S. Constitution, which gives the states and Congress exclusive authority over election administration. “As current and former legislators, amici took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States—including its guarantee of the separation of powers,” the lawmakers wrote.
The amici pointed to a recent federal court ruling blocking the USPS from implementing its newly finalized mail ballot rule for the midterm elections, saying the agency lacked the authority to implement the rule and that its actions are “substantively unconstitutional and contrary to law.” The group concluded by asserting states’ power to administer elections and Congress’s power to make federal election law.
The Broader Stakes
One-third of Americans are expected to vote by mail in the upcoming midterm elections — a voting practice Trump himself used as recently as August 2026, when the president voted in Florida’s Republican primary. A 2025 Brookings Institution study found an average of just four cases of voter fraud for every 10 million mail-in ballots cast, and that states using universal mail-in voting have among the lowest fraud rates in the country.
The dispute now sits before the Supreme Court, with the federal court’s prior block on the USPS rule adding to the legal uncertainty ahead of the 2026 midterms.
