This and other proposals for Trump’s order have been blocked by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani. The judge found that the order exceeds Trump’s authority under the Constitution, which gives power to state legislatures and Congress, not the president, to set federal election rules. The judge also found that USPS has no legal authority to regulate who can vote by mail and how, an issue that Senator Peters pressed Steiner on.

Well, I think it’s clear that there’s nowhere in the Constitution, there’s no federal law that the Postal Service is authorized to create these types of voter databases, ballot verification systems or mandatory standards. It just simply doesn’t exist.

Trump himself voted by mail in Florida in March, and the president has said he issued this order to stop illegal voting by non-U.S. citizens in federal elections, which many reviews have shown to be incredibly rare. The Trump administration is now expected to appeal the new ruling against the order.