Duckworth, Durbin Join Senate Democrats in Urging Supreme Court to Block Postal Rule Limiting Mail-In Voting

Duckworth, Durbin Join Senate Democrats in Urging Supreme Court to Block Postal Rule Limiting Mail-In Voting

261 Members and former Members file bicameral, bipartisan brief as court order barring Postal Service rule limiting mail voting is being challenged by Trump's DOJ

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and joined U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-CA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Gary Peters (D-MI), along with U.S. Representatives Joe Morelle (D-NY-25), Robert Garcia (D-CA-42), Joe Neguse (D-CO-02) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD-08), in leading a bicameral amicus brief challenging the legality of President Trump's executive order and U.S. Postal Service rule seeking to exert control over mail-in ballots ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

The group, made up of a bipartisan, bicameral coalition of 261 lawmakers and former lawmakers, filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the matter of State of California, et al. v. United States Postal Service, et al., a lawsuit brought by a coalition of state attorneys general against the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). The court case challenges a final rule issued by USPS pursuant to President Trump's directive that imposes 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.

"Donald Trump's desperate attempts to obstruct voting by mail for every American but himself are unconstitutional and jeopardize our democracy," said Duckworth. "Trump has already voted by mail twice this year alone. We cannot allow him to illegally intimidate his fellow tens of millions of Americans who cast their ballots by mail. As we approach the 2026 midterms, the Supreme Court must reject these unlawful executive orders and protect Americans' right to vote this fall."

"The President is dead set on attacking Americans' right to vote and undermining our democracy by making baseless claims about 'rigged' elections, demanding unreasonable voter registration requirements, restricting mail-in voting, and threatening to unconstitutionally nationalize our elections. But the President cannot nullify our Constitution. The Supreme Court must reject the President's attempts to chip away at our voting rights," Durbin said.

Nearly one-third of Americans have voted by mail in recent elections-a voting practice Trump himself used as recently as August 2026, when he voted in Florida's Republican primary.

In the court filing, the amici curiae argue that President Trump's Executive Order 4399 and USPS's final rule violate the separation of powers and usurp 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," wrote the lawmakers in the brief. "Amici have a particular interest in defending the institutional role of the Legislative Branch under Article I of the Constitution and in vindicating the long-settled principle that the Constitution commits ultimate regulatory authority over federal elections to Congress. The Constitution does not contemplate the Executive Branch acting unilaterally to assert power over federal elections. Yet that is what the Order and Final Rule do."

The amici also pointed to a recent federal court ruling blocking 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 district court correctly concluded that Appellees are likely to succeed on the merits of their claims that USPS lacked authority to issue the Final Rule, that the Final Rule unconstitutionally imposes mail-ballot requirements on the States, and that the Final Rule unconstitutionally bars non-compliant State and local election officials from using the USPS to mail ballots at all," wrote the lawmakers.

The lawmakers concluded by asserting states' power to administer elections and Congress's power to make or alter rules regulating elections, which the Supreme Court itself has described as an "override" authority. President Trump's illegal incursion on this authority is an attempt to disenfranchise people who depend on mail-in ballots to vote.

"The integrity of our constitutional system depends on each branch keeping to its assigned role," concluded the lawmakers. "The Framers set up a two-part system that gave the States default authority to regulate federal elections subject to Congress's authority to override the States. The Framers did not provide the President with any authority to interfere in that system, nor has Congress subsequently imbued the President or the Executive Branch with any such authority by statute."

In addition to Duckworth, Durbin, Padilla, Schumer, and Peters, the amicus brief was joined by the entire Senate Democratic Caucus.

The full brief is available on the Senator's website.

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