Power Grab/Fire anyone who can stop him
The Postal Service finalizes a rule making states submit the names and addresses of every mail voter; a judge and the Supreme Court keep it out of the 2026 election
The rule implements Trump’s March 31, 2026 Executive Order 14399 on mail voting; Judge Indira Talwani blocked it for the November 3 election and the Supreme Court denied a stay on September 14.
What happened
The Postal Service issued a final rule, effective August 21, 2026, requiring state election officials to submit to a Postal Service portal the names, addresses and barcode data of every voter sent a mail ballot. It also set envelope-design and barcode standards for federal ballot mail. The rule was published August 26.
It implements Trump’s March 31, 2026 Executive Order 14399, which directed the Postal Service to restrict delivery of mail ballots to voters on lists supplied in advance by state officials. The Supreme Court had lifted an earlier injunction on August 24 because no final rule yet existed. The rule said it would not be applied for 2026 while existing injunctions stood.
Judge Indira Talwani issued a temporary restraining order on August 27 and a preliminary injunction on September 4 barring the rule for the November 3, 2026 election. She found no delegation from Congress allowing the Postal Service to regulate election mail. On September 14 the Supreme Court denied a stay; only Justices Alito and Thomas dissented.
Who benefited
Trump, who has long sought to curtail mail voting, would have gained a federal checkpoint through the Postal Service over which voters receive ballots in every state. Postal Service leadership produced the rule under White House direction.
Who wanted something
The White House wrote the executive order, and Postmaster General David Steiner’s Postal Service drafted and defended the rule and sought to implement it before the midterms. An Alabama-led coalition of 13 Republican attorneys general urged it on.
Who lost out
Mail voters in every state faced ballots blocked for envelope defects or list mismatches. State and local election officials said they had neither the time nor money to comply. The rule would have created a federal record of who votes by mail.
Why it matters
The Constitution gives states the manner of elections unless Congress acts, and a postal regulation put an executive agency between voters and their ballots. It was stopped for 2026, but the rule remains on the books for the next election.
Sources Federal Register (public inspection) (primary)U.S. District Court, D. Mass. (via Delaware DOJ) (primary)Supreme Court of the United States (primary)Reuters