United States Postal Service Changes Enrage, Create Calls For Investigation Before Presidential Election

The controversy surrounding the United States Postal Service and mail-in voting ahead of the 2020 Presidential election reached new heights following sweeping changes made that have angered President Trump’s critics and led to calls for an investigation into the ethics of the move.

A new organizational chart released on Friday showed that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who is a known ally of President Donald Trump, has reassigned or displaced 23 postal executives, including the two top officials who oversee day-to-day operations, the Washington Post reported. A management hiring freeze is also being enacted and volunteers for early retirement are being requested.

This comes after DeJoy also prohibited overtime and tweaked delivery policies for the agency earlier in the summer.

“This organizational change will capture operating efficiencies by providing clarity and economies of scale that will allow us to reduce our cost base and capture new revenue,” DeJoy said in a statement about the move. “It is crucial that we do what is within our control to help us successfully complete our mission to serve the American people.”

The changes also renewed calls by Democratic leaders to investigate DeJoy's changes, which are believed could have an affect on how mail-in ballots are handled during the November Presidential election. Democrats have called for the use of mail-in ballots due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which the President and followers have criticized and claimed would lead to widespread fraud.

Critics of President Trump took to social media to term the latest changes for the postal service as the “Friday Night Massacre,” and many warned that the moves are all a blatant attempt by the administration to influence the results of the election.

The moves have been touted as cost-cutting measures that are meant to help the struggling agency, which Washington Post reported is projected to run out of money by as soon as March 2021. However, a $10 billion loan was also secured during an earlier coronavirus relief package as well.