The R Street Institute responded on March 31 to a new executive order from the Trump administration that seeks to regulate ballots transmitted by the United States Postal Service. Matt Germer, director of the institute’s governance program, and Chris McIsaac, a governance resident fellow, released a joint statement addressing concerns about the scope and implications of the order.
The issue is significant because it raises questions about federal authority over election procedures traditionally managed by states. The involvement of the USPS in election matters has become an area of increased scrutiny amid ongoing debates over voting access and integrity.
In their statement, Germer and McIsaac said: “President Trump’s recent executive order to regulate ballots transmitted by the United States Postal Service (USPS) appears to push beyond his lawful authority, drawing the USPS into partisan conflict and reaching into areas of election administration that are rightly governed by the states.”
They also warned about broader consequences if such federal actions set precedent. “Setting aside the legal questions, the order points down a troubling path: if the federal government can condition the delivery of mail or compel state and local data in an election context, it is not hard to imagine a future administration using similar authority to restrict the delivery of other lawful but politically sensitive materials or to justify the creation of a federal registry built on state data. That kind of precedent would be difficult to contain.”
Germer and McIsaac concluded their remarks with: “Reforms in this space require clear statutory footing and are developed through the legislative process, not unilateral executive action.”
Observers will likely continue watching how this executive order affects both state control over elections and future use of federal powers.
