What Did We Learn From the Postal Service Fiasco?

In politics, what looks like sordid intrigue often turns out to be garden-variety incompetence. Case in point: After much testimony and investigation, it seems likely that the U.S. Postal Service was not engaged in a plot to derail November’s election by slowing down the mail, as many of President Donald Trump’s critics have alleged in recent weeks. The truth about the service’s recent decline is, in all probability, mundanely disheartening rather than sinister.

Anecdotal reports — some quite grim — of foul-ups and delays in the postal system have been circulating for months. Complaints about delayed prescriptions and other deliveries have proliferated. New data seems to bear these stories out: According to a report released by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, there have been significant holdups and reductions in service since the beginning of July.