Delays, Cutbacks, and Missing Mailboxes: What’s Happening to the Postal Service?

United States Postal Service carriers have been vital essential workers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the future of the entire service is in jeopardy - all in the months leading up to what could be its greatest test yet. Source.

A political battle over the future of the United States Postal Service (USPS) is beginning to take shape—a battle that many believe will influence the outcome of the 2020 election. This comes after a series of postal service cutbacks, mostly stemming from financial insecurity caused by the COVID-19 economic slowdown, that have resulted in mail delays and the removal of mailboxes and sorting machines. In response to these troubles, Congress has proposed a $25 billion emergency bailout for the USPS. However, President Trump has threatened to block this emergency legislation, stating: “They want $25 billion — billion — for the post office. Now they need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots." These comments follow months of fierce criticism of vote-by-mail from President Trump, leading many to believe that postal service cutbacks are part of a larger partisan attack on vote-by-mail, something many believe is a crucial aspect of November’s voter turnout amidst a pandemic.

The USPS has a long history, tracing its origins to the Postal Clause of the United States Constitution, which grants Congress the authority to “establish Post Offices and Post Roads.” The Post Office was a cabinet-level department until 1970, when Congress passed the Postal Reorganization Act, which established the USPS as an independent agency. This act transformed the postal service into a corporation-like entity, reliant on postage for revenue. Because of this, the postal service is not funded by taxpayer money. This restructuring has severely kneecapped the financial independence of the USPS , which reported $8.8 billion in losses during the 2019 fiscal year.

These losses have sparked debate over the nature of the postal service. How should we treat the institution? An important consideration is the role the USPS plays in delivering mail to rural Americans. If the postal service is to be privatized, would Americans living in remote locations still receive mail? Take the example of Little Diomede Island, where mail is delivered by helicopter on a weekly basis at the cost of $300,000. Many would argue that these people have a right to receive mail, regardless of the costs.

While the debate over the nature of the USPS is nothing new, President Trump’s politicization of the organization certainly pushes the envelope. In May 2020, President Trump named Louis DeJoy as head of the postal service, despite potential conflicts of interest. DeJoy, a former supply-chain CEO, had extensive investments in rival services like UPS and Amazon. When he was named Postmaster General, DeJoy divested his shares in these companies but purchased significant amounts of stock options in Amazon. In addition to DeJoy’s potential conflicts of interest, there is a widespread belief that President Trump has a vested interest in the failure of the postal service because of its importance to vote-by-mail. President Trump has long been an outspoken opponent of vote-by-mail, making baseless claims that it is vulnerable to voter fraud. His Democratic opponents, however, believe that his opposition to vote-by-mail is rooted in his desire to suppress voter turnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. The postal service is a critical part of vote-by-mail infrastructure, and slowdowns could potentially disqualify millions of votes.

These fears have transformed the postal service cutbacks into a political showdown. On Friday, Postmaster General DeJoy sat before a Senate committee and denied charges that the postal service slowdowns are part of a larger effort to hamper vote-by-mail. DeJoy also stated that the postal service will suspend its cutbacks until after the November election to avoid the appearance of interfering in the election. Despite suspending cutbacks, Speaker Pelosi stated that DeJoy admitted he has no intention of rolling back cuts that have already been made. DeJoy will testify before the House Oversight Committee on Monday as representatives prepare to vote on legislation regarding the postal service’s $25 billion emergency bailout. President Trump threatened to block the bailout if passed, making it clear that the future of the United States Postal Service will be determined by a partisan battle, one that will only intensify in the leadup to the November election.