{"slug":"trump-postal-service-dejoy-election-interference","title":"Postal Service Sabotage: DeJoy Changes, Mail Slowdowns Before 2020 Election","date":"2020-08-07","lastUpdated":"2020-11-03","description":"In August 2020, newly-installed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy — a Republican donor with no postal experience — implemented sweeping operational changes to the U.S. Postal Service that slowed mail delivery nationwide. The changes came as a record number of Americans planned to vote by mail due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sorting machines were removed, overtime was eliminated, collection boxes were removed, and mail was left on loading docks rather than being held for delayed arrivals. Trump simultaneously acknowledged he was blocking USPS funding to prevent expanded mail-in voting.","summary":"Louis DeJoy was appointed Postmaster General in May 2020 despite having no postal service background and being a major Republican donor. Within weeks, DeJoy implemented changes including eliminating overtime (which slowed mail delivery), removing letter-sorting machines (which processed mail faster), reducing post office hours, and ordering trucks to depart on schedule rather than wait for mail. Mail piled up. First-class mail delivery times — the metric by which election mail is typically processed — deteriorated significantly. Trump simultaneously told Fox Business the slowdown was deliberate, saying he was withholding USPS funding specifically because it would facilitate mail-in voting he opposed.","category":"rule-of-law","severity":"critical","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/13/us/politics/trump-postal-service-funding-mail-in-voting.html","title":"Trump Admits He Is Undermining Postal Service to Limit Mail-In Voting","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/08/07/postal-service-dejoy-mail-slowdowns/","title":"Inside the USPS: Mail piling up as DeJoy cuts upend operations","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/dejoy-postal-service-sorting-machines-election","title":"Postal service mail sorting machines removed before election","publisher":"The Associated Press"},{"url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17561851/state-of-washington-v-trump/","title":"State of Washington v. Trump (USPS preliminary injunction)","publisher":"U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["USPS","DeJoy","mail-in-voting","first-term","rule-of-law","2020-election","voter-suppression"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2020-05-06","title":"DeJoy appointed Postmaster General — no postal background","summary":"The USPS Board of Governors appoints Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General. DeJoy has no postal service background. He has donated over $2 million to Republican causes and is a major Trump supporter. Postal unions immediately raise concerns."},{"date":"2020-07-01","title":"DeJoy implements operational changes — overtime cut, trucks depart on schedule","summary":"DeJoy implements changes eliminating overtime and ordering mail trucks to depart on schedule rather than wait for delayed mail. Mail begins piling up at facilities. First-class delivery performance deteriorates."},{"date":"2020-08-07","title":"Sorting machine removal orders accelerated","summary":"USPS orders completion of letter sorting machine removals by end of August. Approximately 671 high-speed machines — capable of processing 35,000 pieces per hour each — are targeted. Unions protest; machines that are removed are destroyed or discarded."},{"date":"2020-08-13","title":"Trump admits USPS sabotage is deliberate — Fox Business interview","summary":"Trump tells Fox Business he is withholding postal service funding specifically because it would enable mail-in voting. The statement is extraordinary: a sitting president on television explaining why he is deliberately degrading a federal agency to affect election outcomes."},{"date":"2020-08-18","title":"DeJoy suspends operational changes — under pressure, does not restore machines","summary":"DeJoy announces he is suspending operational changes until after the election due to public and Congressional pressure. He does not restore the removed sorting machines. The machines that were destroyed cannot be quickly replaced."},{"date":"2020-08-21","title":"Federal court issues preliminary injunction","summary":"A federal judge issues a preliminary injunction ordering USPS to stop implementing DeJoy's changes and treat election mail as first-class. 47 states sue or join challenges. Additional injunctions follow in other circuits."},{"date":"2020-11-03","title":"2020 election — record mail-in balloting","summary":"A record 65+ million Americans vote by mail in the 2020 election. Despite USPS disruptions and court orders, the majority of mail ballots are processed. Trump loses. He subsequently claims mail-in voting was fraudulent — claims rejected by courts in more than 60 cases."}],"location":{"name":"Washington, D.C.","lat":38.9072,"lng":-77.0369},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"judicial-finding","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"American voters who submitted mail-in ballots that were delayed or threatened by USPS operational changes; patients dependent on mail-order prescription delivery delayed by operational changes; veterans and Social Security recipients dependent on USPS for benefit checks; American democratic process","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"President; explicitly stated he was withholding USPS funding to prevent mail-in voting; appointed DeJoy without postal experience; supported operational changes during election period","institution":"White House"},{"name":"Louis DeJoy","role":"Postmaster General (appointed May 2020); implemented operational changes that slowed mail delivery during pandemic; Republican donor; removed hundreds of mail sorting machines","institution":"U.S. Postal Service"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2020-11-03","summary":"Updated with 2020 election outcome and mail ballot processing results."}]}}