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."
Some U.S. lawmakers are calling on social media platforms X, Facebook and Instagram to explain why they aren't imposing new labels on deceptive AI-generated political advertisements that could fake a candidate's voice or actions.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday proposed raising the legal age that people in England can buy cigarettes by one year, every year until it is eventually illegal for the whole population and smoking will hopefully be phased out among young people.
A man illegally brought a loaded handgun into the Wisconsin Capitol, demanding to see Gov. Tony Evers, and returned at night with an assault rifle after posting bail, police said Thursday.
Michael Whitaker, who was nominated by President Biden to lead the FAA, was grilled by a Senate committee on how he would handle current situations with the agency.
