Trump's postal order

[pete]

Trump tries to use the postal service to suppress the vote

In his latest attempt to undermine democracy in the United States, Donald Trump issued Executive Order #14399 on March 31, 2026. This Order would require the U.S. Postal Service to take on the job of determining who can receive mail-in ballots for voting. If implemented, this Order would completely change the nature of the Postal Service from a universal mail delivery system into a political watchdog of the Trump administration.

When he first came into office last year, Trump talked about privatizing the USPS. He called it a “mess”, hinted at bringing it under the direct control of the Commerce Dept., and railed against mail-in voting, which he said contributed to his election loss in 2020. Since then, Trump seems to have backed off against plans to reorganize or privatize the USPS. In his latest hearings before Congress, the Trump-appointed Postmaster General, David Steiner, merely called for some minor financial changes to allow postal service to continue functioning. He suggested raising the price of first-class letter stamps and for expanding USPS’s ability to borrow more money in order to shore up finances. Beyond that, Steiner suggested some minor reorganization that could be taken, such as ending Saturday mail delivery, which would save the USPS some money; but as Steiner noted, such steps would mean cutbacks in service, which would need authorization from Congress. He left it up to Congress to decide on such steps.

While suggesting raising the price of stamps, Steiner didn’t dare mention raising the price of bulk business mail (“junk mail”). which is actually a large part of what the USPS delivers today. Demanding more money from individual consumers is fine with the Trump administration, but they don’t consider charging more for billionaire corporations to clog up people’s mailboxes with advertising flyers, brochures and catalogs.

And now, while Trump rails against mail-in voting, he’s realized he could use the postal service itself as a weapon against mail-in voting by converting the USPS into a detective agency. His executive order of March 31 requires USPS to regulate who can receive ballots based on voter lists for each state supplied to the USPS by the Department of Homeland Security. That’s right; DHS, the agency that is so corrupt and behaves with so little respect for the law that Congressional Democrats refuse to renew funding for it, will now be in charge of deciding who gets to receive a mail-in ballot. DHS, whose Secretary, Kristi Noem, was forced out of office because of her agents’ continual flouting of the need for judicial warrants and their thuggish behavior toward immigrants and protesters, which led to the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, among others. This is the agency that will be deciding who gets to vote and who does not. And they will be charging letter carriers to follow their instructions.

Following this Order would change the nature of the postal service. Presently the USPS is a mail delivery system open to everyone and every corporation. Mail is accepted, processed and delivered regardless of who sent it or where it’s going. (1) But Trump’s Order would change the USPS into a politicized agency subordinated to the notorious DHS. Following this Order would at the least slow down and possibly disrupt mail-in voting, as DHS steps in to “regulate” the distribution and collection of ballots. At the least, this would allow Trump and his minions numerous opportunities to challenge voting procedures as they try to suppress the vote.

Postal employees, including top management, should ignore Trump’s order. It’s completely illegal, since the Constitution reserves the regulation of elections to the states, not to presidential edicts. Trump himself flouts the Constitution daily, however, and PMG Steiner is a handpicked Trump follower, so postal employees may be pressured to implement the Order. This is where the issue of mass resistance can make the difference, as it did in Minneapolis in the struggle to get ICE out of town. Postal employees should not be pressured to join Trump in his campaign of voter suppression.

(1) APWU News: Statement from APWU President on Anti-Voter Executive Order. April 1, 2026
Statement from President Jonathan Smith on Anti-Voter Executive Order | American Postal Workers Union