US Postal Service Abandons Delivery of 650 Million Masks Due to White House Pressure

WP, "USPS Planned Nationwide Mask Delivery Then Canceled"
Court Halts Delivery Delay Policy
"Delivery Delay Is Politically Motivated Attack"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] The Washington Post (WP) reported that the United States Postal Service (USPS) had planned to deliver 650 million masks to all residents in April but the plan was halted due to White House intervention, sparking public outrage. This amount is enough for every American to use.

According to WP on the 17th (local time), USPS had established a plan to deliver five reusable masks to every resident in the United States. A press release was already prepared. WP cited anonymous sources stating that the White House ultimately canceled the plan.

Regarding this, an anonymous official explained to WP, "The White House was concerned that households receiving masks might be confused."

In response to this report, President Trump told reporters that day, "I did not understand."

President Trump had previously mentioned that the measure was to prevent confusion after Bob Woodward, the Watergate investigative journalist, claimed in his new book Rage that President Trump concealed the risks of COVID-19.

Policy Allowing Delivery Delays Affecting Mail-in Voting Rejected by Court

USPS also suffered a decisive blow in court that day. The court ordered a halt to USPS’s policy changes that could affect mail-in voting in the upcoming November U.S. presidential election.

According to U.S. media including CNN, the federal court in Yakima, Washington ruled on a lawsuit filed by 14 state governments against President Trump and USPS, defining USPS’s service policy changes that delayed mail delivery nationwide as "an attack on the efficiency of postal service motivated by political reasons," and issued a preliminary injunction to stop it nationwide.

The 14 state governments filed the lawsuit opposing USPS’s new delivery policy that required postal trucks to leave the post office at a set time even if there was mail to be delivered, introduced as a cost-saving measure.

The court pointed out, "The state governments have proven that the defendant is attacking the efficiency of postal service based on political motives," and "The policy changes have substantially created the possibility of depriving many voters of their voting rights." The court announced it would issue a preliminary injunction reflecting the state governments’ demands within the day.

Louis DeJoy, appointed by President Trump as USPS Postmaster General, has sparked controversy since taking office in June by implementing policies that could affect mail-in voting. He attempted to remove mailboxes and high-speed mail sorting machines but suspended these actions after public and opposition party criticism.