United States Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, whose operational changes have precipitated the crisis.
The 2020 United States Postal Service crisis is a series of events that have caused backlogs and delays in the delivery of mail by the United States Postal Service (USPS). The crisis stems primarily from changes implemented by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy shortly after taking office in June 2020. The delays have had substantial legal, political, economic, and health repercussions.
There is controversy and speculation about whether the delays are
unintended consequences of restructuring operations, or if they were
intentionally created for political and/or financial gain.
On August 18, 2020, under heavy political and legal pressure,
DeJoy announced that he would be "suspending" the policy changes until
after the November 2020 election. He has also agreed to testify to the Senate on August 21, and to the House of Representatives on August 24, concerning the changes and their effects.
Background
The USPS has had a history of budget deficits dating back to a 2006 law requiring it to prepay retiree health benefits 75 years in advance, a provision to which no other government agency or private corporation is subject. The agency's struggles were compounded by the financial crisis of 2007–2008 and subsequent recession, which caused overall mail volume to fall by one-third, and again by the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic effects.
Changes
Businessman and Trump campaign megadonor Louis DeJoy was sworn in as postmaster general on June 15, 2020; he is the first person since 1992 to assume the position without any prior experience in the United States Postal Service.
Upon taking office DeJoy immediately began taking measures to reduce costs, such as banning the use of overtime and extra trips to deliver mail.
After criticism, DeJoy admitted that these measures were causing delays
in mail delivery, but said they would eventually improve service.
An undetermined number of high-speed mail sorting machines were
dismantled and removed from postal facilities without explanation, raising concerns that mailed ballots for the November 3 election might not reach election offices on time.
Mail collection boxes were removed from the streets in many
cities. However, the Postal Service has been removing mail collection
boxes as a cost-cutting measure for years - between 1985 and 2011, the
number of mail collection boxes was reduced by 60% - so it remains
unclear if the removals are connected to DeJoy's changes.
After photos of boxes being removed were spread on social media, a
Postal Service spokesman said they were being moved to higher-traffic
areas but that the removals would stop until after the election.
On August 18 - after days of heavy criticism, and the day after
lawsuits against the Postal Service and DeJoy personally were filed in
federal court by several individuals
- DeJoy announced that he would roll back all the changes until after
the November election. He said he would reinstate overtime hours, roll
back service reductions, and halt the removal of mail-sorting machines
and collection boxes.
Legal issues
Federal law prohibits any employee of the Postal Service from delaying mail. The Postal Service inspector general has opened an investigation into the changes made by DeJoy, including any possible conflicts of interest stemming from his $30 million ownership stake in XPO Logistics, which processes mail for the USPS.
Several state attorneys general are also beginning investigations to determine if DeJoy has violated state election laws and are coordinating their efforts.
As of August 18, 2020, attorneys general from at least twenty states
planned to file federal lawsuits against the USPS and DeJoy. One
imminent lawsuit is being led by Washington state, joined by Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin; a second is being led by Pennsylvania, joined by California, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, and North Carolina. All of the participating attorneys general are Democrats.
U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell (D-New Jersey) requested the New Jersey attorney general to empanel a grand jury to investigate whether any state election laws have been violated; the AG declined comment. Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said, "In Arizona, it's against the law to 'delay the delivery of a ballot.' I've asked Attorney General Brnovich to investigate recent changes at USPS, and whether or not the Trump administration has committed a crime."
A number of individuals, including candidates for public office,
have filed lawsuits in federal court against the Postal Service, DeJoy
and Trump in response to the crisis, and many more are expected.
Political issues
Voting by mail
has become an increasingly common practice in the United States, with
the share of voters nationwide mailing their ballots growing from about 8
percent in 1996 to about 21 percent in 2016. The coronavirus pandemic
of 2020 has been predicted to cause a large increase in mail voting
because of the possible danger of congregating at polling places.
For the 2020 election, a state-by-state analysis concluded that 76
percent of Americans are eligible to vote by mail in 2020, a record
number. The analysis predicted that 80 million ballots could be cast by
mail in 2020, more than double the number in 2016. Because of the operational changes causing delays in mail delivery, the Postal Service sent a letter to 46 U.S. states
in July 2020, warning each state that the service might not be able to
meet that state's deadlines for requesting and casting absentee ballots.
Donald Trump's involvement
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President Donald Trump
Starting in spring 2020 President Donald Trump began to speak out against voting by mail, claiming without evidence that it is subject to massive fraud, and threatening to take steps to prevent states from sending absentee ballots to voters. Despite his false claims of fraud, Trump himself voted by mail in recent elections, as did First Lady Melania Trump and many senior administration officials. On August 13, 2020, in an interview with Fox Business Network's Maria Bartiromo, Trump said he was blocking emergency funding for the USPS because of his opposition to mail-in voting.
Trump later defended the changes being made by DeJoy, saying that DeJoy
wanted to "make the Post Office great again", a reference to Trump's
own political slogan, "Make America Great Again". Former president Barack Obama accused Trump of deliberately "kneecapping" the Postal Service in order to discourage people from voting.
Contrary to Trump's stated belief that vote by mail harms Republicans, there is no evidence that it benefits one party or the other.
However, nonpartisan experts have warned that delays in the delivery of
mail-in ballots could be used by Trump to "steal the election" in the
event that more Democrats than Republicans choose to vote by mail in the
November 2020 elections.
Public polling has indicated that more Democrats plan to vote by mail
in the elections than Republicans, possibly due to Trump's false claims
of vote by mail being riddled with fraud. In addition, there is a recurring phenomenon in U.S. elections called the blue shift,
whereby in-person votes tallied on Election Night favor Republicans,
then later-tallied ballots (including mailed ballots) shift the final
result toward the Democrats. Longtime Republican elections lawyer and former Federal Election Commission chairman Trevor Potter
stated that under such a scenario, Trump could build up a lead among
ballots cast on Election Day, claim victory, and then say, "stop
counting ballots because all those absentee ballots are illegitimate."
Trump met with DeJoy at the White House on August 3, 2020 in what was described by White House spokesman Judd Deere as a "congratulatory meeting". Trump later denied instructing DeJoy to slow mail delivery, saying he "wouldn't do that."
Economic issues
Some
companies have complained that the delays are hurting their business,
since their reputation is dependent on being able to deliver their wares
reliably and promptly. A Wisconsin businessman said that with the
recent changes, some shipments that might once have been no more than a
day late now go missing for weeks, and Priority Mail and Express Mail
can now take a week or more. The problems are especially severe for small businesses.
Individuals are also reporting serious economic problems due to
delayed or missing mail: not receiving checks or important papers that
they are expecting, or having their bill payments arrive at the company
late so that they get charged a penalty. In some cities people report
getting no mail at all for two or three weeks, and standing in line at
the post office to see if it is there.
Health issues
Most prescribed medications from the Veterans Administration are sent by mail. Those medications are supposed to arrive within three to five days of being mailed.
Since the operational changes imposed by DeJoy, veterans complain that
such prescription deliveries have been delayed, often by weeks. Other
health essentials such as oxygen tubes are also reportedly being delayed
for weeks. A letter to DeJoy from 31 U.S. senators asked him to reassess the effect of his changes on veterans.
Protests
The crisis has precipitated protests against the changes made by DeJoy, with protesters calling for the postmaster general's resignation. One protest took place on August 15 outside of DeJoy's home in Washington, D.C.; a second took place on August 16 at his home in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Congressional response
On August 16, 2020, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California) ended a recess of the House of Representatives that had been scheduled to last until the week of September 14, calling lawmakers back to Washington to address the crisis.
She proposed an early vote on a bill to roll back the changes
introduced by DeJoy, which Democrats have described as "a grave threat
to the integrity of the election." Pelosi said that "Lives, livelihoods and the life of our American democracy are under threat from the president."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) demanded that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) bring the Senate
back into session also, to consider ways to "undo the extensive damage
Mr. DeJoy has done at the Postal Service," but there was no indication
McConnell would do so. Some Republican senators have also called for reversing the changes, pointing out the importance of the Postal Service to rural residents; they include both senators from Montana and Senator Susan Collins of Maine.
On August 17, 2020, DeJoy agreed to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on August 24, and the next day he agreed to testify before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs on August 21. He will be joined at the House hearing by USPS Board of Governors Chairman Robert M. Duncan.
