{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://patryan.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-pat-ryan-over-250-current-former-members-congress-urge-supreme", "CONGRESSMAN PAT RYAN, OVER 250 CURRENT & FORMER MEMBERS OF CONGRESS URGE SUPREME COURT TO BLOCK TRUMP\u2019S EXECUTIVE ORDER LIMITING MAIL VOTING", "2026-09-09", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "House", "NY", "Patrick Ryan", "R000579", "patryan.house.gov", "patryan", "https://patryan.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "The group includes both Democratic and Republican lawmakers from the House and Senate\n\nWASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Congressman Pat Ryan joined current and former Members of Congress in challenging the legality of President Donald Trump\u2019s Executive Order seeking to exert control over mail-in ballots ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.\n\nThe group, made up of a bipartisan, bicameral coalition of 261 lawmakers, filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court of the United States in the matter of United States Postal Service, et al., v. State of California, et al., a lawsuit brought by a coalition of State Attorneys General against the U.S. Postal Service. The court case challenges a Final Rule issued by the USPS pursuant to Trump\u2019s directive that imposes unconstitutional and unworkable restrictions on mail-in voting, including requiring states to provide a \u201ccitizenship verification list\u201d and attempting to give USPS control over who can vote by mail.\n\n\u201cTrump\u2019s second term has been defined by crushing cost increases, a war in Iran \u2013 which has cost us billions in taxpayer dollars and the lives of 18 brave Patriots \u2013 and slashing critical programs our community relies on like SNAP and Medicaid,\u201d said Congressman Pat Ryan. \u201cThat\u2019s not a winning message, and Trump knows it. Instead of lowering costs and ending the war, Trump \u2013 who consistently votes by mail!\u2013 is trying to silence the American people ahead of the midterm elections. It\u2019s a pathetic, illegal move \u2013 and it won\u2019t work. The Supreme Court must block this disastrous, un-American, unconstitutional order. Your voice is your vote, and we won\u2019t let anyone take it away.\u201d\n\nOne-third of Americans are expected to vote by mail in the upcoming midterm elections\u2014a voting practice Donald Trump himself used as recently as August 2026, when the president voted in Florida\u2019s Republican primary.\n\nIn the court filing, the amici curiae argue that Trump\u2019s Executive Order 14399, \u201cEnsuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections,\u201d violates the separation of powers and usurps congressional authorities outlined in Article I of the U.S. Constitution, which gives the states and Congress exclusive authority over election administration.\n\n\u201cAs current and former legislators, amici took an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States\u2014including its guarantee of the separation of powers. 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,\u201d wrote the lawmakers.\n\nThe amici also pointed to a recent federal court ruling blocking the 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 \u201csubstantively unconstitutional and contrary to law.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe 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.\u201d\n\nThe group concluded by asserting States\u2019 power to administer elections and Congress\u2019s power to make or alter rules regulating elections, which the Supreme Court itself has described as an \u201coverride\u201d authority. The president\u2019s illegal incursion on this authority is an attempt to disenfranchise people who depend on mail-in ballots to vote.\n\nThe lawmakers concluded: \u201cThe integrity of our constitutional system depends on each branch keeping to its assigned role. The Framers set up a two-part system that gave the States default authority to regulate federal elections subject to Congress\u2019s authority to override the States. The Framers did not provide the President with any authority to interfere in that system, nor has Congress imbued the Executive Branch with any such authority by statute.\u201d\n\nClick HERE to view the full brief.\n\nThe effort was led by House Administration Ranking Member Joe Morelle; Assistant House Minority Leader Joe Neguse, who leads the House Democrats\u2019 Litigation Task Force; and Task Force Co-Chairs Oversight Ranking Member Robert Garcia and Judiciary Ranking Member Jamie Raskin. In the Senate, the brief was championed by Rules Committee Ranking Member Alex Padilla; Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer; Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin; and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Gary Peters.\n\n\u201cPresidents do not control our elections\u2014the American people do. Today, in a bipartisan agreement, Members defended the constitutional authority of Congress and deliberately chose to protect our elections from executive overreach. Our elections are safe and secure, and we intend to keep them that way. We will not allow USPS to put Americans\u2019 ballots at risk,\u201d said Ranking Member Joe Morelle.\n\n\u201cThe law is clear: states and Congress have authority over our elections \u2014 not the President and certainly not the Postal Service. Protecting the right to vote-by-mail is critical to ensure every eligible voter can make their voices heard in the November midterm elections and in future elections,\u201d said Senator Alex Padilla. \u201cDespite the Trump Administration\u2019s attempts to eliminate vote by mail and suppress voter participation, voting by mail remains one of the most safe and secure ways to vote, especially for service members, rural voters, and Americans living abroad. I urge the courts to uphold our Constitution and reject Trump\u2019s attacks on our fundamental right to vote.\"\n\n\u201cDonald Trump is trying to unconstitutionally rig the midterm elections because he knows that's the only way he can hold on to power. This scheme could potentially stop millions of American citizens from receiving their ballots and having their vote counted. We are fighting this in court and defending the Constitution,\u201d said Ranking Member Robert Garcia.\n\n\u201cDonald Trump\u2019s attacks on mail-in voting are in direct contravention of the U.S. Constitution. His executive order and the USPS actions to implement it would disenfranchise millions of Americans, silencing an untold number of citizens that rely on mail ballots to make their voices heard. But the right to vote is sacrosanct, and we\u2019ll do whatever it takes to protect it,\u201d said House Assistant Minority Leader Joe Neguse. \u201cI\u2019m proud to see the outpouring of support from current and former Members of Congress\u2014across the political spectrum\u2014to assert the rule of law in this matter and to stand up for the right of every eligible voter to fairly cast their ballot.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Constitution is clear that the states and Congress make the rules for federal elections, not the President. Yet, in utter defiance of the Constitution, President Trump is attempting to use the Postal Service to decide who can and cannot receive a ballot just days before mail-in voting begins in some of the states. This is a naked power grab by a historically unpopular President\u2014who himself regularly votes by mail\u2014to inject confusion and chaos into our elections in a last-ditch effort to keep his party in power. It will not work. I\u2019m proud to stand with a strong bipartisan, bicameral group of current and former colleagues in urging the court to continue rejecting this lawless election interference,\u201d said Ranking Member Jamie Raskin.\n\n\u201cDonald Trump is once again asking the highest court in the land to silence voters and destroy the precious integrity of the American electoral process,\u201d said Leader Schumer. \u201cMail-in voting is proven safe and secure, and Trump\u2019s continued efforts to obstruct America\u2019s free and fair elections are blatant, unconstitutional attempts at interfering with the November midterms. Trump\u2019s message to the American people is clear: he isn\u2019t worried about voter fraud, he\u2019s afraid of voter accountability. I urge the court to uphold the Constitution and reject Trump\u2019s baseless attempt at poisoning our democracy.\u201d\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-10T09:25:58Z", "2026-09-10T09:27:09Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://patryan.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-pat-ryan-over-250-current-former-members-congress-urge-supreme"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7758289575576782, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}