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Dear Friend,
Donald Trump just went on Fox News and admitted that he is purposely blocking funding for the post office to prevent universal mail-in voting.1
Trump's bombshell confession comes on the heels of his administration's massive escalation of the dismantling of the U.S. Postal Service. Louis DeJoy, the Postmaster General and huge Trump donor, removed 23 postal executives from their jobs and centralized power around himself personally as the election approaches.2
We're running out of time to stop Trump's plan to block people from voting safely this fall. If Congress doesn't provide funding to repair the U.S. Postal Service in the next coronavirus stimulus package, we may not see another chance until after the election.
Will you donate to help Demand Progress call on Congress to fund the U.S. Postal Service?
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We now have proof that DeJoy's shakeup at the USPS is a “deliberate sabotage” intended in part to further delay the mail and cause issues with vote-by-mail ballots.3
Trump said, "If they don't get [funding for the post office], you can't have universal mail-in voting."4
And it's working. DeJoy eliminated the positions of the vice president in charge of delivery and retail, and the chief operating officer—the two people in charge of getting us the mail on time. Meanwhile, due to DeJoy's order to stop all overtime and the delivery of mail after certain hours, reports of delayed letters and packages are flooding the U.S. Postal Service. Prescriptions, paychecks, and other essential mail that used to take just days to arrive are now taking weeks.5
Right now millions of absentee ballot requests are being dropped into mailboxes, and the success of vote-by-mail is dependent on a fully functioning post office.
DeJoy was the perfect choice of Trump's to do the dirty work of taking down the 245-year-old institution—the wealthy mega donor has $75 million invested in postal competitors, like UPS.6
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer met with DeJoy to discuss the new postmaster general's policies, but DeJoy refused to back down.7
The only way we can go back to getting our mail on time and ensure that absentee ballots don't arrive too late is for Congress to undo DeJoy's orders and fully fund the U.S. Postal Service. We're ramping up our campaign right now—will you donate?
Yes, I’ll donate to help save the post office.
Thanks for standing with us.
Robert Cruickshank,
Demand Progress
Sources:
1. Tweet by Abby D. Phillip, August 13, 2020
2. The Washington Post, "Postal Service overhauls leadership as Democrats press for investigation of mail delays," August 7, 2020
3. Ibid.
4. Tweet by Abby D. Phillip, August 13, 2020
5. Vox, "What’s wrong with the mail," August 7, 2020
6. The Washington Post, "Postal Service overhauls leadership as Democrats press for investigation of mail delays," August 7, 2020
7. The Washington Post, "Top Democrats say postmaster general acknowledged new policies that workers say are delaying mail," August 6, 2020
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