The Trump administration is retreating from a sweeping plan to funnel mail-in voter data to the Department of Homeland Security, reversing course just days after advancing a broad data-sharing proposal in federal court. The reversal comes as legal challenges to President Trump’s voter-roll executive order mount ahead of November’s midterm elections.
A Quick Reversal Between Filings
The Justice Department filed a hedged legal position Monday evening, backing away from a more expansive stance it had taken in a Friday court filing. That earlier submission had outlined a broad arrangement under which the U.S. Postal Service would share data on mail-in voters with DHS as directed by a Trump executive order signed March 31.
Also on Monday, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin signed an internal memo clarifying the department’s posture. Rather than committing to an active data-collection program, Mullin’s memo authorized the agency to continue what it described as preliminary conversations with USPS about potential information-sharing arrangements — but only contingent on USPS first completing its own rulemaking process.
“The Secretary authorized DHS to continue preliminary conversations with USPS concerning potential data-sharing arrangements,” the memo read, as cited in the Monday court filing.
Michael McNulty of the nonpartisan group Issue One said the retreat was apparent from the language in the filings. “It looks like they definitely walked back the USPS data-sharing language,” McNulty said.
What the Executive Order Requires
Trump signed the underlying executive order on March 31, directing states to submit lists of potential mail-ballot voters to the Postal Service and requiring DHS to compile rosters of voting-age citizens in each state. Eight states — including California, Oregon, and Washington — conduct their elections entirely by mail, making them particularly central to the legal and policy debate surrounding the order.
The administration has been pressing states for unredacted voter rolls for roughly the past year. In parallel, the Justice Department has filed more than 30 lawsuits seeking that information from states that have resisted turning over the records.
Despite that sustained legal pressure, no federal judge has yet issued an order pausing the March 31 executive order, even as multiple lawsuits challenging it work through the courts.
Political and Legal Stakes
The timing of Monday’s reversal is significant. With November’s midterm elections approaching, any federal program touching voter data and mail ballots carries substantial political and legal exposure. Critics of the executive order have argued it represents an attempt to build a federal voter database outside the traditional channels of state election administration. Supporters have framed it as a legitimate effort to verify voter eligibility and ensure election integrity.
The administration’s mid-week pivot — advancing an expansive plan on Friday, then pulling back by Monday night — suggests the legal environment is affecting how the White House is choosing to defend the order in court, even as it maintains the underlying program has not been abandoned.
Montana, which has a long tradition of absentee and mail voting and is heading toward competitive congressional contests this fall, has a direct stake in how courts ultimately resolve the dispute over state voter rolls and federal data access. Montana voters will choose representatives in both congressional districts in November; Republican nominee Aaron Flint is competing for the western district seat, while Helena attorney Brian Miller secured the Democratic nomination for the eastern district race. For coverage of those contests, see our reports on Flint’s Republican nomination and Miller’s Democratic nomination.
How the courts resolve the underlying legal challenges — and whether DHS ultimately moves forward with any formal data-collection arrangement after USPS completes its rulemaking — will shape the federal role in mail-ballot administration well beyond this election cycle.
