The President, the Postal Service and the Election

Aug 19, 2020

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Show notes

The installation of Louis DeJoy as postmaster general has caused alarm. Since taking up the role in June, he has enacted a number of cuts to the Postal Service: ending overtime for workers, limiting how many runs they can make in a day, reassigning more than 20 executives and, from the perspective of the unions, speeding up the removal of mail-sorting machines.

The actions of Mr. DeJoy, a Republican megadonor and Trump ally, have been interpreted by many Democrats as an attempt to sabotage the election in concert with President Trump, who has himself admitted to wanting to limit funding that could help mail-in voting.

Today, we explore to what extent Mr. Trump is using the post office, and the postmaster general, to influence the election.

Guest: Luke Broadwater, a congressional reporter at The New York Times.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily

Background reading:

Postmaster General DeJoy has ushered in measures that, three months out from an election that is expected to rely heavily on mail-in voting, have caused widespread delays.
Amid warnings that changes to the agency may disenfranchise voters, Speaker Nancy Pelosi recalled the House from summer recess to vote on legislation blocking any further steps. Mr. DeJoy will testify before the Senate on Friday.
In response to mounting criticism, the Postal Service has suspended operational changes until after the election. It is unclear whether changes already in place will be reversed.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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