White House says the mail-voting order "added important safeguards" and denies improper interference with the Postal Service
The White HouseThe White House, through spokesperson Lauren Bis in an emailed statement to ProPublica
In an emailed statement to ProPublica published September 28, 2026, White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said President Trump's executive order on mail voting added important safeguards and described its requirements as commonsense measures to protect the security of mail-in ballots and ensure only Americans vote. She denied that the administration had interfered improperly with the Postal Service and rejected the idea that an earlier certified-mail proposal was unworkable, saying that played no part in the decision to go in another direction.
“added important safeguards to vote-by-mail. These were commonsense measures to protect the security of mail-in ballots and to ensure only Americans vote in American elections.”
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Should Trump’s new mail-in voting restrictions apply to the 2026 midterms?
USPS’s new federal ballot-mail rule requires election officials to meet envelope standards, enroll voters through a federal portal and submit outgoing ballots for verification. The Trump administration argues these are lawful anti-fraud postal controls. Challenging states and civil-rights organizations say USPS is intruding into state-run elections and that the late rollout threatens voters’ access. On September 14, the Supreme Court left a temporary block in place for the 2026 election. Alito and Thomas would have allowed enforcement; Kavanaugh objected to applying the rule this year.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
ProPublica reports, citing several people knowledgeable about the discussions, that the White House first proposed requiring all ballots to be sent by certified mail before abandoning the idea over Postal Service objections, that postal officials were left out of later drafting, and that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick served in an advisory and coordination role. It quotes an emailed statement from White House spokesperson Lauren Bis defending the order, a Commerce Department spokesperson, the Postal Service's referral to an earlier statement by Postmaster General David Steiner, and an interview with American Postal Workers Union president Jonathan Smith.
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ProPublica reported that the White House first floated requiring all ballots to be sent by certified mail, an idea abandoned after Postal Service objections, and that postal officials were left out of key conversations before the final order. Asked about its role, the White House said in an emailed statement that it had not interfered improperly with the Postal Service, an independent agency, and that the executive order
After the quotation
Bis also rejected the idea that the certified-mail proposal was "unworkable," saying that played no part in the administration's decision "to go in another direction."
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The conduct examined is implementing and enforcing the mandatory USPS ballot-mail requirements for the November 2026 election, which stem from the executive order. The White House defends the order's requirements as commonsense security measures and denies improper interference, so we labeled it Defended or excused. The statement does not address the courts' block on enforcement this year, which is the closest reason to consider a narrower label, but it defends the measures themselves without reservation.
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The Dispute Index. "White House says the mail-voting order "added important safeguards" and denies improper interference with the Postal Service". First published: 2026-10-04. Last updated: 2026-10-04. https://disputeindex.com/events/4537-in-an-emailed-statement-to-propublica-published-september