Politics and views in the United States

Trump refuses to sign a bipartisan housing bill unless Congress passes voting restrictions, the head of the Postal Service says a new proposal could prevent the delivery of some absentee ballots and election workers face high turnover and burnout.

Transcript

Welcome to 2026 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

No longer will private equity firms come in with an all-cash offer to snap up a house while a family loses out on their dream.

Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren says the most significant housing legislation approved by Congress in decades would lower costs by limiting the number of homes private investors can buy.

The bill passed with broad bipartisan support, but President Donald Trump says he won't sign it unless Congress agrees to his controversial Save America Act.

He blamed, quote, bad Republicans for not ending the filibuster to pass the bill with the National Voter ID and Voter Database and tight limits on mail-in voting.

Meanwhile, a federal judge has permanently blocked key parts of a Trump executive order imposing strict proof-of-citizenship requirements at the ballot box and for new voter registrations.

Democratic state attorneys general sued, arguing the Constitution intentionally bars the White House from running elections, giving that to the states.

Postmaster General David Steiner says under a proposed policy, the Postal Service would not deliver absentee ballots to states that refuse to share voter with the federal government.

Steiner told a Senate committee the plan would increase efficiency and ensure states are following the law.

I would think that states would want the information to ensure that the ballots that they think are sending out are the ballots that are actually being sent out.

Democrats call that illegally turning the Postal Service into an election agency controlled by the White House.

Earlier this week, a federal judge blocked Homeland Security from using its citizenship database to remove Americans from registration rolls.

The ruling says that, quote, knowingly tramples on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote.

Separately, the administration is threatening to withhold homeland security grants from states which do not follow its preferred election procedures.

A new report from the University of Maryland's Election Resilience Lab reveals high stress and low pay are contributing to election worker burnout and high turnover.

Lab director Allison McLaughlin says headlines often focus on increasing harassment, overlooking the impact of constant rule changes.

It's the same reason people burn out in other fields.

They're called upon to do more.

They don't have the resources to do it well, and that's a very frustrating thing for people in the public sector.

And House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries suggests New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani may have lost some friends on Capitol Hill this week after two Democratic congressional incumbents lost their primaries to progressives backed by the mayor.

Jeffries himself advanced with no opponent.

I'm Catherine Carley for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

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