Revealed: evidence shows huge mail slowdowns after Trump ally took over

Louis DeJoy’s policies, which he said were intended to boost efficiency, led to widespread outcry this summer

The United States Postal Service (USPS) saw a severe decline in the rate of on-time delivery of first-class mail after Louis DeJoy took over as postmaster general, according to new data obtained by the Guardian that provides some of the most detailed insight yet into widespread mail delays this summer.

Related: Trump doesn’t seem to understand how voting works. Here’s what you need to know

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‘Follow your conscience,’ Biden urges Republicans as Trump pushes for supreme court nominee – video

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden makes a plea to Senate Republicans, asking them to 'follow their conscience' and defy president Donald Trump's push to name his nominee for the supreme court ahead of November's election. Trump says he plans to nominate a women for the seat as soon as possible, after Ruth Bader Ginsburg died aged 87 six weeks out from the US election. 'I appeal to those few Senate Republicans, that handful who really will decide what happens. Please follow your conscience,' Biden says. 'Don't vote to confirm anyone nominated under the circumstances President Trump and Senator McConnell have created. Don't go there. Uphold your constitutional duty, your conscience'

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Supreme court: Biden accuses Trump and Republicans of abuse of power

Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, made an urgent plea on Sunday to the conscience of Senate Republicans, asking them to defy Donald Trump and refuse to ram through his nominee to the supreme court before the November election.

Related: Rushing to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg, McConnell shows power trumps principle | Robert Reich

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Trump vows to nominate a woman for US supreme court vacancy within a week

President says he has ‘obligation’ to fill the vacancy created by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Donald Trump has promised to put forward a female nominee in the coming week to fill the supreme court vacancy created by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, pushing the Republican-controlled Senate to consider the pick without delay.

Taking the stage at a North Carolina rally to chants of “Fill that seat”, the president said he would nominate his selection despite Democrats’ objections.

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Trump vows to select Ginsburg replacement ‘without delay’ – live

Tim Alberta, the chap I quoted a while back re Mitch “Mule Piss” McConnell and his single-minded pursuit of judicial appointments, has a fascinating piece up at Politico.

“If there’s one Republican who could be convinced that filling the sudden supreme court vacancy is a bad idea,” he writes, “it’s President Donald Trump.”

Related: Trump names three sitting senators among 20 possible supreme court picks

Any number of variables could tip the scales in such a tight election. But it’s not difficult to deduce that had a supreme court seat not been hanging in the balance, Hillary Clinton would be president right now. When I offered this theory last year to McConnell … he grinned.

“I agree,” McConnell said.

Having been reminded countless times over the past 45 months that his Supreme Court gambit won him the trust of social conservatives – which, in turn, won him the election – Trump surely realizes that this is a moment of maximum leverage. Maybe he doesn’t bother using it; maybe he automatically produces more of the goods, keeping his most important customers satisfied, believing it’s one more accomplishment to point to.

But the president is transactional to his core. This was exactly the word– “transactional” – that Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, used when we discussed the supreme court list Trump unveiled in 2016.

News is starting to come out of the Senate Democrats’ caucus call today…

Per source Schumer started with moment of silence for RBG and said “nothing is off the table” next year if GOP moves forward w/nominating process

Related: Battle hymn of the Democrats: why it's time for liberals to fight dirty

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How Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death could affect Senate races – and Trump v Biden

Susan Collins of Maine is among vulnerable Republican senators as polls indicate voters trust Biden more on justice picks

On the question of supreme court nominees, the Republican senator Susan Collins has repeatedly threaded the same political needle. It is one with a shrinking eye.

Related: Ruth Bader Ginsburg changed America long before she joined the supreme court | Moira Donegan

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg: death of liberal justice gives Trump chance to reshape the US for generations

The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has sparked a titanic political fight that could shape the future of US supreme court decisions on abortion rights, voting rights and other fundamental issues for a generation.

Related: What does Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death mean for the supreme court?

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Biden: successor to ‘giant’ Ginsburg should be decided by US election winner – video

Joe Biden says there is no doubt the next US supreme court justice should be chosen by the winner of the country's presidential election, following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday.

'She was fierce and unflinching in her pursuit of the civil legal rights of everyone,' Biden said of Ginsburg, who had sat on the supreme court since 1993. 'Her opinions and her dissent are going to continue to shape the basis for law for a generation.'

Biden said her replacement should be selected by the winner of the election in November, citing precedent established by Senate Republicans in 2016, when they blocked Barack Obama's attempt to replace justice Antonin Scalia in an election year

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Trump under fire for ‘shocking’ Covid failures as ex-adviser turns against him

Olivia Troye attacks Trump and says he called his own supporters ‘disgusting people’ he no longer had to shake hands with

The coronavirus pandemic moved to the centre of the US election again on Friday, as a former senior official on the White House taskforce turned on Donald Trump.

Related: 'He’s paying attention to people like us': Trump’s messages resonate in Wisconsin

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Mitch McConnell pledges Senate will vote on Ginsburg’s supreme court replacement – live

Kamala Harris, the Democratic party’s vice-presidential candidate, has paid tribute to Ginsburg, calling on the nation to fight for the late justice’s legacy.

Tonight we mourn, we honor, and we pray for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her family. But we also recommit to fight for her legacy.

Doug and I send our heartfelt prayers to Jane and James, and the entire Ginsburg family, particularly on this holy day of Rosh Hashanah. pic.twitter.com/SNyqZCznfv

With the stage set for an epic political battle over who will succeed Ginsburg, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell indicated that the vote will go ahead quickly.

Although McConnell did not give any specific timing, he implied that Trump’s nominee for the vacant position would be put to the vote before the election in November.

Related: Mitch McConnell vows US Senate will push on with Trump's pick to replace Ginsburg

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Joe Biden: Listen to the scientists, not Trump, about coronavirus vaccine – video

Joe Biden has accused Donald Trump of 'close to criminal' behaviour by intentionally misleading the public over the scale of the threat posed by coronavirus. 'He knew it, and did nothing,' the former vice-president said at a CNN town hall event in Pennsylvania.

Biden said he did not trust Trump’s statements on the development of a vaccine, accusing the president of politicizing the issue for the sake of his re-election.

'I don’t trust the president on vaccines. I trust Dr Fauci,' Biden said. 'We should listen to the scientists, not to the president.'

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Why is Biden polling better than Clinton did?: Politics Weekly Extra podcast

This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks with the Guardian’s Washington DC bureau chief David Smith about why Joe Biden is seemingly doing better than Hillary Clinton did in the polls in 2016

This week, the question is: “Why is Biden polling better than Clinton did in 2016?” Polls don’t necessarily determine who will win an election, as anyone who lived through the 2016 election knows – Democrats especially.

However, it is noticeable that Joe Biden has had a consistent lead over Donald Trump for the last 12 months and that when polls are averaged out, he is 6.2% ahead. Around the same time in 2016, Hillary Clinton’s lead over Trump was just 1%. So, what is causing this bump in numbers for Biden?

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‘Steady drumbeat of misinformation’: FBI chief warns of Russian interference in US elections

  • Chris Wray says bureau has seen ‘very active efforts by Russians’
  • Efforts are primarily meant to denigrate Joe Biden

Christopher Wray, the FBI director, on Thursday warned that Russia is interfering in the 2020 US presidential elections with a steady stream of misinformation aimed at undermining Democrat Joe Biden as well as sapping Americans’ confidence in the election process.

Moscow is also attempting to undercut what it sees as an anti-Russian US establishment, Wray told the Democratic-led House of Representatives’ homeland security committee in a hearing on Capitol Hill.

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CDC director suggests masks are ‘more guaranteed to protect against Covid’ than vaccine – live

Senior health officials appear to be offering conflicting timelines on when a coronavirus vaccine will be widely available to the American public.

CDC director Robert Redfield just told senators that the vaccine would not be widely available until “late second quarter, third quarter 2021.”

CDC Director Robert Redfield also told senators that he did not expect a coronavirus vaccine to be widely available to the American public until “late second quarter, third quarter 2021.”

JUST IN: CDC Director Robert Redfield says at a Senate hearing he sees a #Covid19 vaccine being "generally available to the American public" in the "late second quarter, third quarter 2021" pic.twitter.com/8w2904TGhN

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Biden assembles army of attorneys for post-election legal fight

Protracted battle expected as likely surge in mail-in votes means winner of Trump-Biden contest may not be known on night

Joe Biden’s presidential campaign says it is amassing an unprecedented army of attorneys for an expected legal brawl over whether ballots will count in the weeks after the election. The effort will involve several other top Democratic voting rights and election law attorneys as well as Eric Holder, the former attorney general.

Related: The ‘invisible voting bloc’: US postal service cuts threaten ballot access for inmates

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Black voting power: the fight for change in Milwaukee, one of America’s most segregated cities

Guardian US reporter Kenya Evelyn travels home to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, one of the most segregated cities in the country to find out what Joe Biden and the Democratic party can do to truly earn the votes of Black Americans.  

Democrats dealt Milwaukee another economic blow by moving their national convention online, crushing Black residents already feeling the brunt of a national crisis. They’re fed up, calling out racial inequality and a party some say ignores their issues until it’s time to vote. From generations of moderate elders leaving their legacy, to their young, progressive peers taking to the streets, Black Milwaukeeans are using the power of their voices and votes to demand change

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Black churches say Donald Trump election ad incites ‘white terrorism’

  • Leaders call for removal of ad depicting worshippers as ‘thugs’
  • Video pairs Biden at prayer with scenes of street violence

Black American church leaders have accused Donald Trump of inciting “white terrorism” against people of colour and depicting churchgoers as “thugs” in a presidential election campaign ad.

They are calling for the advertisement’s removal from display and federal protection from any bias or threats it could provoke.

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‘The US feels very volatile’: former ambassador warns of election violence

Ex-UK ambassador Kim Darroch say pollsters could be undercounting Donald Trump supporters

The former UK ambassador in Washington, Kim Darroch, has warned of a “genuine risk” of violence in the aftermath of a close-run US election in November.

Darroch noted that although Joe Biden is maintaining a significant lead nationwide, the margins in some battleground states are shrinking, and he suggested pollsters could be systematically undercounting Donald Trump supporters.

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Biden condemns Trump as ‘climate arsonist’ as wildfires burn – live

Trump has landed in California, where he will receive a briefing on the west coast wildfires, which have already claimed at least 35 lives.

“There has to be good, strong forest management, which I’ve been talking about for three years with the states, so hopefully they’ll start doing that,” Trump said.

Trump is in California mispronouncing "Oregon" and insisting that wildfires are caused be poor forest management pic.twitter.com/zydXDoe3DT

Joe Biden closed his climate speech by noting he continues to pray for Americans on the west coast who have been affected by the wildfires.

“We see the light through the dark smoke. We never give up. Always,” Biden said.

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Just 50 days until a US election both sides see as an existential struggle

Joe Biden holds a steady lead in the polls but plenty of time remains for surprises and even the act of voting is controversial

The election to decide whether Donald Trump will serve a second term as president has already begun, with voters in North Carolina filling out absentee ballots, Minnesotans preparing to start early in-person voting on Friday and other states revving up their election machinery.

But for most Americans, today marks 50 days until election day, 3 November, when voters will take varying degrees of health risks – and face hurdles to voting of varying heights – to cast their ballots in person for Trump or his potential Democratic successor, Joe Biden.

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