What’s Happening To the U.S. Postal Service and Who’s Behind It?
What's going on with our mail and the post office? The National Association of Letter Carriers, which represents 300,000 current and retired workers, has endorsed Joe Biden for president. Is Trump’s all-out assault on the U.S. Postal Service payback? That is not clear, but what is clear, is before the Biden endorsement, Donald Trump was at odds with the USPS. He had previously called for service cuts and threatened to privatize its functions and more.
In June, he appointed his friend and longtime campaign donor, Louis DeJoy, as postmaster general. With no postal background or experience whatsoever, DeJoy has wreaked havoc on the mail system by cutting overtime, late delivery trips, and other expenses that help ensure the mail arrives on time. He also removed thousands of mail sorting machines and mailboxes, among other major changes.
Standing by the USPS
Trump has increased his attacks on the USPS, blocking the $3.5 billion COVID-19 stimulus approved by Democrats to employ extra workers and equipment ahead of the election. Outside of never providing evidence to back his baseless claims of widespread fraud with mail-in-voting, Trump requested his own mail-in-ballot last week.
Now, why in God’s name would he do that if voting by mail or absentee voting weren’t safe? As for DeJoy, he claims all the sudden changes he made to the postal system had nothing to do with slowing the mail or trying to help his buddy Trump win re-election. Congress isn’t buying it and are demanding the new postmaster general answer for his actions. DeJoy is scheduled to testify before Congress on Monday, August 24.