2020 United States Postal Service Delays

Overview

The 2020 United States Postal Service Delays refers to the contributing factors leading to the halting of mail delivery in the U.S. Among the issues, including the 2020 coronavirus and policies set forth by the Trump administration, many have blamed the issues with USPS on the president, who they accuse of slowing the postal service to stop mass vote by mail in the 2020 presidential election. Others blame the Trump-appointed postmaster general Louis DeJoy, who slashed the USPS budget, leading to the removal of sorting machines and collection boxes.

Background

In 2006, congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, a law that, according to the Washington Post,^[4] "envisioned the Postal Service as a self-sustaining agency whose revenue could cover the expenses associated with an aging workforce involved in a physical occupation: delivering packages and parcels to every address in the country." The law stipulated that the USPS prepay employee health and retirement benefits. Over the next 16 years, the USPS amassed $160 billion in debt.

Beginning in 2020, the USPS began announcing delivery delays due to such factors as "limited transportation availability" as a result of the coronavirus.^[1]

In May 2020, President Trump appointed businessman and Trump donor Louis DeJoy postmaster general.

In June 2020, the Trump administration proposed a plan to privatize the post office. The Wall Street Journal writes,^[2] "The proposed postal reforms come as shifts in the way people communicate and shop are straining delivery networks created decades earlier to deliver mail across the country. President Donald Trump has launched a task force to review finances and operations at the agency, which has been losing money for years […] The American Postal Workers Union, which represents 200,000 postal workers, objected to the idea of privatizing the agency. The proposal 'would end regular mail and package services at an affordable cost' and hurt rural Americans and e-commerce, the union’s president, Mark Dimondstein said in a statement."

In July 2020, President Donald Trump continued his attacks on mail-in voting, which he accused of being fraught with voter fraud (examples below). Experts say that fraud is "extremely rare." Reuters^[3] says, "The conservative Heritage Foundation, which has warned of the risks of mail voting, found 14 cases of attempted mail fraud out of roughly 15.5 million ballots cast in Oregon since that state started conducting elections by mail in 1998."

On August 7th, 2020, Postmaster Genreal Louis DeJoy announced "sweeping overhaul" to the USPS, restructuring the organization to cut costs. According to the Washinton Post:^[5]

Twenty-three postal executives were reassigned or displaced, the new organizational chart shows. Analysts say the structure centralizes power around DeJoy, a former logistics executive and major ally of President Trump, and de-emphasizes decades of institutional postal knowledge. All told, 33 staffers included in the old postal hierarchy either kept their jobs or were reassigned in the restructuring, with five more staffers joining the leadership from other roles.

Developments

Trump Withholds USPS Funds

On August 13th, in an interview with Fox Business, Trump said that he was in "favor of withholding funding to the postal service to hamper state efforts to expand mail voting."^[6] Later that day, he reversed his stance. Trump told reporters that he opposed additional funding for the post office and election security. He said, "We have to have an honest election, and if it’s not going to be an honest election, I guess people have to sit down and think really long and hard about it."^[7]

Removal of USPS Mail Box

Following the announcement of the cuts, many reported on social media that trucks had begun collecting mailboxes off the street (examples below, left and center). Others posted photographs of recently locked mailboxes (example below, right).

On August 14th, USPS spokesman Rod Spurgeon told NBC,^[8] "We are not going to be removing any boxes. After the election, we’re going to take a look at operations and see what we need and don’t need."

Democratic Response

On August 16th, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that she would be calling lawmakers back from recess to fight the cuts to the postal service.^[13]

Online Reaction

The crisis over the USPS inspired conversation, outrage and concern throughout the internet. Several threads on Reddit in the /r/politics,^[9] /r/publicfreakout,^[10] /r/news^[11] and /r/WhitePeopleTwitter^[12] subreddits received more than 50,000 points.

Public figures also voiced their concern about the issue. Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Joe Biden tweeted, "Voting by mail is safe and secure. And don't take my word for it: Take it from the President, who just requested his mail-in ballot for the Florida primary on Tuesday." The tweet received more than 320,000 likes and 78,000 retweets in less than one week (shown below, left). American recording artist Taylor Swift tweeted, "Trump’s calculated dismantling of USPS proves one thing clearly: He is WELL AWARE that we do not want him as our president. He’s chosen to blatantly cheat and put millions of Americans’ lives at risk in an effort to hold on to power." The tweet received more than 747,000 likes and 173,000 retweets in less than one week (shown below, right).

On August 16th, videos on Twitter showed residents in North Carolina protesting outside the mansion of Louis DeJoy (shown below).

It's not a protest in North Carolina until the banjo comes out.

This is a great moment in Greensboro, North Carolina as we protest outside Louis DeJoy's mansion.#USPSprotest #DemCastNC #SaveTheUSPS pic.twitter.com/Vp8Wof8wya

— Ted Corcoran (Red T Raccoon) (@RedTRaccoon) August 16, 2020

Search Interest

External References