May 30, 2026 - WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Friday, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), ranking Member on the Senate Rules and Administration Committee and California’s former Secretary of State, released the following statement on the United States Postal Service’s (USPS) proposed rule to begin implementing President Trump’s Executive Order targeting vote by mail.

“It is completely unacceptable for the Postal Service to take orders from President Trump to severely limit vote by mail. Under the Constitution and laws enacted by Congress, the Postal Service is an independent agency, and Americans rely on it to deliver the mail, including ballots, without partisan political interference.

“This draft rule unlawfully requires that states provide the Postal Service with a list containing voters’ names and addresses, among other data, following the Executive Order’s unconstitutional directive for a national voter eligibility list. Even worse, tens of millions of eligible voters could be prevented from voting by mail if states do not fully submit to this new federal mandate being rushed ahead of the 2026 election. Serious and consequential questions remain over how this new list will work with the Trump Administration’s ongoing illegal effort to create a national voter list.

“While litigation to protect mail voting is ongoing, including a lawsuit brought by the State of California, I urge the public to sound the alarm and submit comments to this rule, and for the Postal Service to carefully evaluate public input and stop rushed implementation of this illegal Executive Order. Everyone should see through this charade — President Trump believes he is entitled to vote by mail, but wants to make it harder for other eligible American voters to vote by mail in the midterm elections. He’s struggling to protect himself from accountability for rising prices on everything from health care to groceries and gasoline.”

As Ranking Member of the Senate Rules Committee with oversight over federal elections, Padilla has been a Democratic leader challenging Trump’s illegal efforts in attacking the right to vote, especially through vote-by-mail. In response to Trump’s unlawful Executive Order, Padilla introduced Absentee and Mail Voter Protection Act, which would nullify Trump’s EO and place restrictions on the administration’s attempts to implement any unlawful voter restrictions. Padilla also took to the Senate floor four times as a leader in the Democratic opposition to the anti-voter SAVE Act. In April 2025, Padilla and Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), led six Senators in expressing serious concerns about the harmful impacts to American voters of the Trump Administration’s plans to privatize the United States Postal Service (USPS) and move it under the control of the Department of Commerce. Last month, Padilla and Senator Gary Peters (D-Mich.) led other Senate colleagues and demanded USPS uphold the law and refuse to implement this unlawful order.

Source: Senator Alex Padilla