Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

DeJoy says he's curbing Postal Service changes until after the election

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said Tuesday he would "suspend" all recent operational changes and cost-cutting moves until after the election in order to "avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail."

The announcement was an emphatic and sudden abandonment of one of the most controversial governmental actions during a presidential campaign transformed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Good-government groups and congressional Democrats allege that DeJoy has been working to undermine the Postal Service ahead of an election that will see a record number of mail-in ballots — a phenomenon his political patron, President Trump, alleges without evidence will assure the theft of his re-election.


The House is poised to return to session this weekend to pass legislation shoring up the USPS and reversing much of what its new director had ordered. DeJoy, a major GOP donor installed in the job in June, had been called to explain the reasoning for his cost-cutting moves at a Senate hearing Friday and a House hearing Monday.

The postmaster's announcement came as the Democratic attorneys general of at least 20 states announced they were preparing to launch a bevvy of lawsuits to atop the recent changes.

Last month the USPS warned 46 states that it cannot ensure mail ballots will be delivered to voters or returned for counting on time. In an afternoon statement, DeJoy did not say precisely whether the service policies he was suspending would prompt the agency to reverse that view.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

He said some of the changes preceded his arrival at the Postal Service. He also promised mail processing equipment and blue collection boxes will remain where they are, no mail processing facilities will be closed and some overtime for workers will be allowed to process election mail.

Demonstrations against Postal Service cuts were being held Tuesday in several cities — and Republican leaders in several swing states, including Ohio, started pressing DeJoy to do whatever he could to ensure the mails were not blamed for an incomplete or unfair election.

The crisis at the Postal Service has erupted as a major election year issue, and allegations Trump was out to sabotage USPS to boost his prospects were leveled in several speeches on the first night of the entirely virtual Democratic presidential nominating convention.

At the White House, Trump leveled fresh assaults on mail-in voting and universal ballots. "You can't have millions and millions of ballots sent all over the place, sent to people that are dead, sent to dogs, cats, sent everywhere," he told reporters. "This isn't games and you have to get it right."

After sounding open to a deal last weekend, Trump has now gone back to his original position and repudiated the need to deliver $25 billion in emergency aid to keep the Postal Service running normally this fall and beyond — as well as a Democratic proposal to provide $3.6 billion in additional money to the states, most of which would help them process mail-in ballots flowing in at double or more the usual volume.

The House is still expected to vote Saturday on legislation that would prohibit the post office from cutting operations or service levels below where they were on Jan. 1. The bill would also allocate the $25 billion.

GOP Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has sent senators home until after Labor Day and signaled they will not be recalled to vote on the House bill, saying the Postal Service "is going to be just fine."

Read More

Ballot box with North Carolina flag
Veronaa/Getty Images

Election Overtime Project heads to North Carolina

The Election Overtime Project, an effort to prepare journalists to cover the outcome of the 2024 election, is hosting its third swing-state briefing on Oct. 18, this time focused on North Carolina.

The series is a part of an effort to help reporters, TV anchors and others prepare America to understand and not fear close elections. Election Overtime is an initiative of the Election Reformers Network and developed in partnership with the Bridge Alliance, which publishes The Fulcrum.

Keep ReadingShow less
House chamber

Rep. Scott Perry objects to Pennsylvania's certification of its Electoral College vote during a joint session of Congress on Jan. 7, 2021.

Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

What voters need to know about the presidential election

It is quite clear that the presidential election is going to be incredibly close. In each of the seven swing states, the margin of error is less than 2 percent.

As citizens, this is not something to fear and it is critically important that we all trust the election results.

As part of our ongoing series for the Election Overtime Project, today we present a guide explaining in detail what you, as a voter, need to know about the role of state legislatures and Congress in a presidential election. The guide was prepared by the Election Reformers Network, a nonprofit organization championing impartial elections and concrete policy solutions that strengthen American democracy.

Keep ReadingShow less
Capitoll colored red and blue, split down the middle
Douglas Rissing/Getty Images

Prepare for heightened political trench warfare beyond Nov. 5

Merloe is a member of the Election Reformers Network Advisory Council and provides strategic advice on democracy and elections in the U.S. and internationally.

Political trench warfare is in full swing as the 2024 pre-election period draws to a close. And the signs are clear that battles will heat up all the way to Nov. 5 — and beyond — over voter qualification, voting, canvassing, certification of results and the allocation of Electoral College votes. With such a close election, both sides know that gaining inches can make a decisive difference, and they are skirmishing accordingly.

Keep ReadingShow less
cheering crowd
Nicholas Green/Unsplash

Voters, activists set to rally for open primaries ahead of historic elections

Griffiths is the national editor of Independent Voter News, where a version of this story first appeared.

The 2024 election cycle is already a historic year for election reform. Six states plus the District of Columbia have measures on the Nov. 5 ballot that open taxpayer-funded primary elections to voters outside the Republican and Democratic parties.

It is the first time in U.S. history that this many statewide primary reform initiatives have been offered up in the same election, something reform leaders are celebrating as they rally citizens to show their support for open primaries.

Keep ReadingShow less