{"slug":"trump-usps-dejoy-mail-slowdown-2020-election","title":"DeJoy USPS Sabotage: Removed Sorting Machines, Slowed Mail Before 2020 Election","date":"2020-07-29","lastUpdated":"2020-09-21","description":"Louis DeJoy, a major Republican donor appointed as Postmaster General in May 2020, implemented operational changes beginning in late July 2020 that slowed mail delivery nationwide — removing high-speed mail sorting machines, eliminating overtime, and ending late-departing mail trips — as the COVID-19 pandemic was driving unprecedented demand for mail-in ballots for the November 2020 election. Trump had explicitly stated he opposed funding the Post Office because he wanted to block mail-in voting. DeJoy testified to Congress; sorting machines were destroyed before he suspended the changes.","summary":"DeJoy's operational changes caused immediate and documented mail delays across the country. The changes were implemented months before the presidential election in which mail-in voting was expected to reach record levels due to COVID. Trump stated publicly that he was blocking Post Office funding to prevent mail-in voting. USPS removed 671 high-speed mail-sorting machines; some were dismantled before DeJoy announced a suspension of the changes in response to congressional and legal pressure. Multiple states sued. The sorting machine removals were not reversed even after the suspension.","category":"rule-of-law","severity":"major","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/us/politics/usps-mail-in-voting-trump.html","title":"Trump Admits He Is Undermining the Postal Service to Hurt Mail-In Voting","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/08/18/postal-service-dejoy-sorting-machines/","title":"Postal Service has been removing mail-sorting machines, and postal workers are worried about election","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/dejoy-usps-mail-sorting-machines-election-2020","title":"Dismantled mail sorting machines won't be restored before election","publisher":"The Associated Press"},{"url":"https://www.axios.com/2020/08/12/trump-post-office-mail-in-voting","title":"Trump admits he's withholding Post Office funding to block mail-in voting","publisher":"Axios"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["USPS","DeJoy","mail-in-voting","2020-election","first-term","rule-of-law"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2020-05-06","title":"DeJoy appointed as Postmaster General","summary":"Louis DeJoy, a Republican donor who had given over $2 million to Trump's campaigns and Republican organizations, is appointed Postmaster General by the USPS Board of Governors. He has no prior postal experience and holds financial interests in companies that compete with USPS."},{"date":"2020-07-29","title":"Operational changes implemented","summary":"USPS begins implementing DeJoy's new operational changes: eliminating overtime, ending late-departing mail trips, and removing high-speed mail-sorting machines. Mail delays become immediately apparent across the country."},{"date":"2020-08-13","title":"Trump admits he's blocking USPS funding to stop mail-in voting","summary":"Trump states on Fox Business that he is blocking congressional funding for USPS because providing the money would enable mail-in voting. The statement is the most explicit presidential acknowledgment that the postal changes were connected to electoral strategy."},{"date":"2020-08-18","title":"DeJoy announces suspension of changes","summary":"Under intense congressional and legal pressure, DeJoy announces he is suspending the operational changes until after the election. He confirms that already-removed sorting machines will not be reinstalled."},{"date":"2020-09-21","title":"Federal court blocks USPS changes","summary":"A federal judge in Washington state issues a nationwide injunction blocking USPS from continuing any changes that could slow mail delivery ahead of the election."}],"location":{"name":"United States Postal Service — nationwide","lat":38.9072,"lng":-77.0369},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"reported","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Americans relying on mail-in ballots for 2020 election; patients awaiting medication and medical equipment by mail; veterans waiting for prescription drugs; small businesses dependent on mail delivery","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Louis DeJoy","role":"Postmaster General; implemented mail-slowing operational changes","institution":"U.S. Postal Service"},{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"President; explicitly linked opposition to USPS funding to desire to block mail-in voting","institution":"White House"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2020-09-21","summary":"Updated with court injunction."}]}}