WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) joined the Absentee and Mail Voter Protection Act (Absentee MVP) Act, legislation led by U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), to block President Trump’s unlawful March 31, 2026, executive order (EO) that aims to illegally rewrite federal election rules or any similar order and prohibit the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and any other agency from spending funds to implement actions in the President’s unconstitutional executive order. 

“President Trump’s attacks on our voting systems are a direct result of his inability to accept that he lost the 2020 election. Since then, he’s pushed wild claims about the integrity of American elections, including blatant lies about the safety of mail-in voting,” said Senator Welch. “Congress must do everything it can to ensure President Trump’s unlawful executive order does not go into effect and protect Americans’ ballots and ability to vote in advance of the 2026 midterm elections.” 

“In a country founded on the ideals of ‘We, the People,’ in which the right to vote is fundamental to who we are as a nation — people shouldn’t have to work too hard to have their voices heard and their votes counted,” said Senator Padilla. “Instead of focusing on lowering costs, ending the illegal war in Iran and bringing our troops home, and improving the lives of Americans across the country, too many Republicans in Congress are shamefully focused on making it more difficult for Americans to cast their ballots in November. Democrats are full court press on pushing back against these blatant attempts to silence the American people.” 

“President Trump is trying to illegally co-opt the Postal Service and the Department of Homeland Security so that he can pick and choose who gets to vote,” said Senator Peters. “Our Constitution gives States and Congress the power to conduct elections, and vote-by-mail is a legal and proven part of our nation’s electoral process. Every American must stand up to this illegal power grab as we fight to maintain our nation’s core values.” 

“The right to vote is fundamental to our nation’s democracy.  But the President, time and time again, has attacked Americans’ access to the ballot box, and his latest strategy is an executive order that targets mail-in voting,” said Senator Durbin. “I’m joining Senator Padilla to introduce the Absentee MVP Act to protect Americans’ right to vote from any presidential administration, including this one, that tries to interfere with absentee and mail-in ballots.” 

At its core, President Trump’s EO would give the USPS sweeping new authority to decide which voters may cast ballots by mail by ordering the USPS to reject and refuse delivery of lawful ballots unless states comply with newly established federal eligibility lists. Those who do not comply with these restrictions would face serious consequences: election officials, mail carriers, and others who send or deliver ballots to voters the administration considers ineligible could face criminal charges, and states and local governments forfeit federal funding. To lay the groundwork for this override of existing state and federal voting laws, the order also tasks DHS with building state-by-state rosters of voting-age American citizens—drawn from federal data sources widely considered to be incomplete and unreliable. 

In addition to nullifying the EO, the Absentee MVP Act bars any similar EO and provides additional limits on the Trump Administration’s attempts to implement the actions in the EO, including by: 

• Blocking the Department of Justice (DOJ) and DHS from sharing state voter lists;   

• Defunding the DOJ’s efforts to compel production of state voter lists;  

• Enforcing the Privacy Act by barring federal agencies from improperly sharing voter data, both within the government and with outside groups; and  

• Defunding any future Commerce Department efforts to enact partisan regulation of mail in ballots. 

In addition to Senators Welch, Padilla, Peters, and Durbin, the legislation is cosponsored by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Angus King (I-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). 

The Absentee MVP Act is endorsed by Americans Against Government Censorship, Common Cause, Democracy Defenders Action, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), Public Citizen, and Vet Voice Foundation. 

Learn more about the Absentee MVP Act. 

Senator Welch also joined Sens. Padilla, Peters, Durbin, and 33 Democratic Senators in demanding that the USPS Board of Governors and Postmaster General David Steiner follow the law and not implement President Trump’s unlawful executive order. 

“The Constitution provides no role for the President in regulating federal elections. And no statute delegates to the President any authority to regulate elections or voter eligibility either, including via USPS,” the Senators wrote. “Like the President, the Postal Service has no authority to regulate the manner of voting in federal elections, nor who is eligible to vote by mail in such elections. For over 250 years, the Postal Service has bound our country together with a constitutionally recognized mail service, and for 250 years, the American people have democratically elected their leaders. Any attempt to effectuate this order would violate the Constitution, break these bonds, and threaten the foundations of American democracy.” 

Read and download the Senators’ full letter to the USPS Board of Governors and Postmaster General Steiner. 

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