<em>The Atlantic Daily</em>: The Real Threat to Mail-In Voting

Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.

Over the weekend, fears that President Donald Trump might undermine the USPS in order to undermine the 2020 election reached a fever pitch.

But this latest controversy isn’t what it seems. We explain—and zoom out to a much larger dynamic at work in the executive branch.

The real threats to USPS operations have nothing to do with blocked funding.

Or even its capacity. (“A presidential election might be a big deal, but in postal terms, it’s no Christmas,” Russell Berman reports.) Instead, experts are concerned about service changes implemented by a new pro-Trump postmaster general.

The president continues to weaponize the federal government in an unprecedented way.

He’s deployed other agencies, including the Census Bureau and the Department of Homeland Security, to similar effect, Ronald Brownstein argues.

Further reading: To prepare yourself for what could be a very messy and drawn-out election, reflect back to the last messy, drawn-out election. Here’s an oral history of the 2000 Bush-Gore contest, the craziest presidential election in modern history.

One question, answered: Will our new, more aggressive hand-washing habits last a lifetime?