First Term Record — May 2020 USPS DeJoy election interference fact-checked

Trump Appointed a Major Donor to Run the Post Office. Sorting Machines Were Removed. Mail Slowed. Before a Mail-In Election.

In May 2020, Trump appointed Louis DeJoy — a supply chain executive who had donated more than $2 million to Republican causes and had no postal experience — as Postmaster General. Within weeks, DeJoy implemented operational changes: limiting overtime, reducing postal worker hours, removing high-speed letter-sorting machines from processing facilities, and removing collection mailboxes from neighborhoods. Mail delivery times measurably slowed in the weeks before the November 2020 election — an election in which tens of millions of Americans were expected to vote by mail due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump was simultaneously and publicly calling mail-in voting fraudulent.

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"They need that money in order to make the Post Office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots... Now they don't have the money to do it, and they're not going to have the money to do it."

— Donald Trump, Fox Business, August 13, 2020, explicitly connecting USPS funding to his desire to prevent mail-in voting

The operational changes DeJoy implemented were unusual in their timing and direction. High-speed letter-sorting machines — which process tens of thousands of pieces of mail per hour — were removed from processing facilities and reportedly not stored but destroyed. Collection mailboxes were removed from neighborhoods in multiple states, including some where election officials had specifically requested they remain in place to accommodate mail-in ballot returns. DeJoy reversed some of the changes after a Congressional hearing and public outcry in August 2020, but the sorting machines that had already been removed were not reinstated.

DeJoy had financial conflicts of interest in the role that were documented: he held investments in USPS competitors and suppliers while overseeing the postal service. A House Oversight Committee investigation found he held significant stock in XPO Logistics, a USPS competitor, and had financial relationships with other companies that did business with the post office. He also made substantial political donations to Republican causes and candidates. The USPS Board of Governors — which technically governs the Postmaster General — was stacked with Trump appointees. Trump explicitly blocked funding for the USPS that might enable expanded mail-in voting, as documented in the above quote. DeJoy was not fired by Biden, remained as Postmaster General through 2025, and has pursued a long-term restructuring plan that continues to extend delivery times for first-class mail.

Verification note

This post distinguishes between documented facts, allegations, and analysis. Where motive, intent, corruption, or illegality remains disputed in the public record, the text attributes that judgment to court findings, official records, direct quotes, or the reporting linked below.

The Sources
  • DeJoy appointment — May 6, 2020; no postal experience; USPS Board of Governors announcement.
  • Sorting machine removal — documented by Washington Post, New York Times; machines removed/destroyed July-August 2020.
  • Trump Fox Business quote — August 13, 2020; archived at factba.se and multiple outlets.
  • DeJoy financial conflicts — House Oversight Committee investigation; August 2020; XPO Logistics holdings documented.
  • Mail delivery slowdowns — USPS Inspector General reports; on-time delivery rates documented.
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