President Donald Trump set off a firestorm last week when he suggested that he would not grant the U.S. Postal Service the funding it requested as a means of interfering with the vote-by-mail process.
The reaction was fierce.
"We have to get back to understanding that democracy itself should not be politicized. Democracy means that the people choose who they vote for," Andrea Hailey, CEO of Vote.org, told Cheddar on Monday. "It's the job of election officials to make voting as accessible and as easy as possible."
In the days after the president's remarks, images of the USPS removing mailboxes in different cities caused a frantic stir on social media, although the agency says it was part of routine redistribution. The agency says it will stop the practice for the time being and plans to decommission large-scale mail sorters have also been postponed until after the election.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Trump appointee who just took the helm at USPS in June, will testify about election concerns before a House committee next week. Hailey expects Congress to grill DeJoy over the various cost-cutting measures that have been instituted since he took over in May.
"People need the post office not only for elections but to receive their medications, to receive their social security checks," Hailey said. "It is essential that we protect the postal service this year."
The U.S. Senate, circumventing holds by Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, on Thursday confirmed the nominations of two senior military leaders, including the first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Using sidewalks as exam rooms and heavy red duffle bags as medical supply closets, volunteer medics spend their Saturdays caring for the growing number of migrants arriving in Chicago without a place to live.
Israeli troops advanced toward Gaza City on Thursday, as the Palestinian death toll rose above 9,000. With no end in sight after weeks of heavy fighting, U.S. and Arab mediators intensified efforts to ease Israel's siege of the Hamas-ruled enclave and called for at least a brief halt to the hostilities in order to aid civilians.
Rep. George Santos easily survived a vote Wednesday to expel him from the House as most Republicans and 31 Democrats opted to withhold punishment while both his criminal trial and a House Ethics Committee investigation proceed.
Former President Donald Trump's two sons, Eric and Donald Jr., are set to take the stand in the ongoing civil fraud trial against Trump and his companies. Trump Jr. is expected to testify Wednesday.
