Postmaster General David Steiner said the Postal Service has stopped developing a computer system designed to implement President Donald Trump’s election-security order after the Supreme Court left an injunction blocking the plan in place.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service has suspended work on a computer system intended to carry out President Donald Trump’s proposed changes to mail-in voting after the Supreme Court rejected the administration’s effort to implement the plan ahead of the 2026 elections.
Postmaster General David Steiner confirmed Thursday that development has stopped while the court injunction remains in effect, according to The Associated Press.
“There’s an injunction so we’re not doing anything,” Steiner said.
The decision effectively freezes the Postal Service portion of Trump’s executive order, which sought to change the federal government’s role in handling mail ballots and verifying voter eligibility.
The administration has described the initiative as an election-security measure intended to ensure that mail ballots are handled only for eligible voters. Opponents challenged the plan in court, leading to the injunction that now prevents the Postal Service from moving forward with the system. The Supreme Court this week declined to allow the administration to put the contested requirements into effect for the current election cycle.
Steiner declined to weigh in on whether the court reached the correct decision.
He similarly avoided taking a position on the merits of Trump’s executive order, emphasizing instead the Postal Service’s operational responsibilities and its status as an independent agency within the executive branch.
The postmaster general’s approach has placed the agency at the center of a politically contested election-policy dispute while he has sought to limit the Postal Service’s role to implementing whatever lawful requirements ultimately apply.
Steiner has spent much of his tenure dealing with the Postal Service’s financial and operational challenges. Trump’s election order added another responsibility by requiring the agency to prepare technological infrastructure connected to the administration’s proposed changes to mail voting.
With the injunction now controlling the issue, that work has stopped.
The decision means Postal Service personnel are no longer developing the computer system needed to implement the blocked portions of the administration’s election plan.
Trump sharply criticized the Supreme Court following its ruling, while Steiner declined to join the political dispute surrounding the decision.
Instead, he maintained that the Postal Service’s responsibility is to carry out legally valid operational requirements rather than determine election policy.
The dispute illustrates the unusual position the Postal Service occupied under the executive order. Although election administration traditionally rests primarily with state and local governments under federal and state law, the administration’s proposal would have given USPS an additional role in implementing federal requirements involving mail ballots.
For now, that expansion is on hold.
Steiner said the agency will comply with the injunction and has ceased the technical work necessary to put Trump’s contested election-security plan into operation.
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