Hansi Lo Wang

This is stuff the public usually doesn't see, but USPS doesn't.

does a lot of extra mail collections and deliveries and special sorting plans at processing centers in those last weeks before a federal general election to make sure that mail and ballots, especially ones that are returned close to a deadline, are delivered as quickly as possible to election officials.

So this order really goes against what a lot of postal workers see as their core mission, which is to move the mail.

The short answer is no.

This is a self-funded government agency legally required to deliver the mail six days a week to almost every address in the country.

And it's mainly funded not by tax dollars, but by selling stamps and service fees at a time when fewer people and businesses are using the mail.

You know, the Postmaster General told Congress just last month, USPS is months away from running out of money and it may not be able to deliver Valentine's Day cards in February 2027.

unless Congress steps in and maybe lets it borrow more money, change its pension system, or pass other reforms.

But this order from President Trump is really the latest example I see of the Trump administration attempting to pressure the Postal Service to do its bidding.

And recently, the Trump administration completely overhauled plans for a test for getting a more accurate count for the 2030 census.

This is a test taking place this year, and it's been turned into an experiment recently.

to see if letter carriers can replace census workers to interview households for the census.

This is another idea from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

And it's raised a lot of questions because the government accountability office says that's not a cost-effective way of conducting the census.

But the Trump administration, for some reason, seems to see the Postal Service as this tool that it can use.

I think we should all keep in mind that the midterm election is happening right now.

Some states have already held their primaries for the midterm election.

Voting is happening right now.

Some people are voting by mail right now.

And I don't know how much every voter is necessarily, every eligible voter is necessarily paying attention to the latest executive order from President Trump that is being challenged in court and may be blocked by courts and may not affect ultimately how they vote in the coming months.