USPS Removes 671 Mail Sorting Machines Months Before 2020 Election -- DeJoy Refuses to Reinstall After Public Outcry

Internal USPS documents obtained by Motherboard revealed the agency had planned to remove 20% of its letter sorting machines (the DBCS machines that sort envelope mail including ballots). Starting in June 2020 under Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, the USPS scrapped 671 of 5,063 DBCS machines. By the time the public learned of the removals on August 14, 95% had already been destroyed. DeJoy "paused" removals on August 18 but refused to reinstall removed machines. A Senate investigation later found DeJoy "moved to abruptly and dramatically cut late and extra trips" without considering likely service disruptions.