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Judge blocks Postal Service proposal to restrict mail-in voting under Trump's order
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Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Judge blocks Postal Service proposal to restrict mail-in voting under Trump’s order A judge has blocked the U.S. Postal Service's proposals responding to President Trump's order, including not delivering ballots in states that don't turn over voter lists to the federal government. Elections Judge blocks Postal Service proposal to restrict mail-in voting under Trump's order Updated June 25, 202611:00 AM ET Originally published June 25, 202611:00 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition Hansi Lo Wang Judge blocks Postal Service proposal to restrict mail-in voting under Trump’s order Listen · 1:51 1:51 Transcript Toggle more options Download Embed Embed "> <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5869755/nx-s1-9824537" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Transcript Elections A federal judge in Boston blocks key parts of Trump's order to limit voting by mail A judge has blocked the U.S. Postal Service's proposals responding to President Trump's order, including not delivering ballots in states that don't turn over voter lists to the federal government. Sponsor Message
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A federal judge in Boston has blocked parts of President Trump's executive order to restrict voting by mail. That order calls for the U.S. Postal Service to play a role in determining who can receive mail-in ballots. Here's NPR's Hansi Lo Wang.
HANSI LO WANG, BYLINE: President Trump's executive order has hit a legal hurdle and so far has not directly affected mail-in voting for this year's primary elections.
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GARY PETERS: Postmaster General Steiner, the Postal Service's proposed vote-by-mail rule...
WANG: But this week on Capitol Hill, Democratic Senator Gary Peters of Michigan grilled David Steiner, the head of the Postal Service, which is a financial supporter of NPR. USPS proposed using information from state election officials to create lists of approved absentee voters, as called for by Trump's order.
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PETERS: So yes or no - 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 proposal?
DAVID STEINER: Under our proposed regulation, no.
WANG: This and other proposals for Trump's order have been blocked by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani. The judge found that the order exceeds Trump's authority under the Constitution, which gives power to state legislatures and Congress, not the president, to set federal election rules. The judge also found that USPS has no legal authority to regulate who can vote by mail and how, an issue that Senator Peters pressed Steiner on.
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STEINER: I would have to defer that to the courts to understand the authority.
PETERS: Well, I think it's clear that there's nowhere in the Constitution, there's no federal law that the Postal Service is authorized to create these types of voter databases, ballot verification systems or mandatory standards. It just simply doesn't exist.
WANG: Trump himself voted by mail in Florida in March, and the president has said he issued this order to stop illegal voting by non-U.S. citizens in federal elections, which many reviews have shown to be incredibly rare. The Trump administration is now expected to appeal the new ruling against the order.
Hansi Lo Wang, NPR News. Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
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+ Editor's note: This story was updated after it aired to include news of the judge's decision. June 26, 2026 Facebook Flipboard Email Read & Listen Home News Culture Music Podcasts & Shows Connect Newsletters Facebook Instagram Press Public Editor Corrections Transcripts Contact & Help About NPR Overview Diversity NPR Network Accessibility Ethics Finances Get Involved Support Public Radio Sponsor NPR NPR Careers NPR Shop NPR Extra Terms of Use Privacy Your Privacy Choices Text Only Sponsor Message Sponsor Message Become an NPR sponsor (function () { var loadPageJs = function () { (window.webpackJsonp=window.webpackJsonp||[]).push([[22],{309:function(e,n,o){o.p=NPR.serverVars.webpackPublicPath,Promise.all([o.e(1),o.e(2),o.e(3),o.e(4),o.e(81)]).then((e=>{o(15),o(770),o(154),o(175),o(93),o(448),o(253),o(128),o(130),o(755),o(174),o(756),o(254),o(77),o(774)}).bind(null,o)).catch(o.oe)},783:function(e,n,o){e.exports=o(309)}},[[783,0]]]); }; if (document.readyState === 'complete') { loadPageJs(); } else { window.addEventListener('load', function load() { window.removeEventListener('load', load, false); loadPageJs(); }); } })();