Washington, D.C. — U.S. Representative Greg Stanton (AZ-04) and a bipartisan, bicameral coalition of 261 current and former Members of Congress filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court of the United States challenging the legality of President Trump’s Executive Order 14399, Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections. The executive order seeks to impose new restrictions on mail voting ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, a voting method used by nearly one-third of Americans and especially prevalent in Arizona, where 81% of ballots were cast using returned mail-in ballots in 2024.
The brief was filed in United States Postal Service, et al. v. State of California, et al., a lawsuit brought by a coalition of state attorneys general challenging a final rule issued by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) pursuant to Executive Order 14399. The rule requires states to provide a “citizenship verification list,” and the rule goes even further by giving USPS sole authority over who can vote by mail. In their filing to the court, the coalition argues that the Executive Order 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.
“The 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’s 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,” the lawmakers wrote.
Stanton has continually fought to protect Arizonans’ access to mail-in voting. He led the Arizona House Democratic Delegation in pressing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to reject Trump’s executive order when it was first issued, warning that it could disenfranchise Arizona voters. Stanton also demanded answers from USPS alongside 29 Democratic colleagues over threats to the accessibility and integrity of mail-in voting.
Stanton has urged USPS to reject its proposed rule restricting ballot mail in federal elections and cosponsored H.R. 8666, the Vote by Mail Protection Act, which would invalidate the executive order and prohibit USPS and other federal agencies from using taxpayer funds to implement it.
Click HERE to view the full brief.