Let’s face it, it is rare for two thirds of Americans to agree on much of anything having to do with the U.S. Government, especially now when we’re more divided than ever on so many topics.

However, Americans overwhelmingly see the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) as an essential service, according to a poll conducted in August, 2020. And yet, the Trump Administration is hard at work to make it not work for the millions of people who depend on it.

They’re people like military veterans, 80 percent of whom receive their prescription medications through the mail. They’re people who operate small businesses who depend on regular mail service to ship their goods to a public that expects fast, reliable and affordable delivery. And they’re people who live in rural areas, for whom a privatized postal service – something Republicans are pushing for – will simply not remain a low-cost, six days a week basic service.

The current postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, a Trump mega-donor, has only been in charge since the beginning of summer and he’s done a horrifying job of enacting changes that slow down delivery, including disabling sorting machines, displacing employees and disallowing overtime. President Trump says it proves the postal service doesn’t have the capacity to handle an increase in mail-in voting, made necessary by the pandemic. Democrats are pushing back on this self-fulfilling prophecy.

They called DeJoy to testify before Congress to answer for the impact of all these changes – that have, coincidentally, made him richer. That’s because his former company, in which he still holds a $30 million interest, is a major contractor to the USPS.

His testimony was wholly incomplete, prompting a follow-up subpoena. Meantime, details are just now emerging about the scope of financial conflicts DeJoy is trying to hide. It turns out his former company was paid four times the amount this summer that it earned from the USPS in the previous two summers.

The extent of the corruption in just this one area of Trump’s government is blindingly obvious, and it begs the question: How deep does the cheating go?

One thing’s clear: There is a surefire way to stop it. Get them all out. Trump and the Republicans who have enabled him do not deserve the trust placed in them to protect our interests as Americans. Vote Democrat top to bottom to replace this President and the Republicans who enable this corruption all the way down the ticket.

We deserve better.

This article was written by Tish Hevel for the Collier County Democratic Party