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The White House scrapped an effort to send hundreds of millions of cloth masks to every U.S. household in April, choosing instead to distribute the masks to nonprofit organizations and state and federal agencies, according to an internal email from a senior Trump administration official obtained by NBC News. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services told NBC News that 600 million masks have been distributed around the country to nonprofits and state and federal agencies through the means the Trump administration ultimately chose. The mask distribution program was called Project America Strong. (Strickler and Bennett, 9/17)

According to the draft release, the agency, working with the Department of Health and Human Services, would first send masks to areas with high COVID-19 transmission rates at the time -- including Louisiana's Orleans and Jefferson parishes; King County, Washington; New York; and Wayne County, Michigan. "Our organization is uniquely suited to undertake this historic mission of delivering face coverings to every American household in the fight against the COVID-19 virus," the then-postmaster general and CEO, Megan J. Brennan, said in the prepared release. (Siegel and Bruggeman, 9/17)

The documents, which mostly span March and April, depict an agency in distress, as its deteriorating finances collided with a public-health emergency and a looming election that would be heavily reliant on absentee ballots. ... The frantic emails began reaching the Postal Service leadership in March, mere weeks after the coronavirus is believed to have arrived in the United States. Mail carriers and, in some cases, their spouses practically pleaded with then-Postmaster General Megan Brennan and her top aides for help in protecting themselves on the front lines. (Romm, Bogage and Sun, 9/17)

The document comes from watchdog group American Oversight, that obtained thousands of internal USPS documents through the Freedom of Information Act. This announcement, which includes quotation from top USPS officials and other specifics, never was sent. It illustrates the government’s initial interest in tapping the Postal Service as part of its broader pandemic response may have been far more advanced than initially reported this spring. (9/17)

More than 50,000 workers have taken time off for virus-related reasons, slowing mail delivery. The Postal Service doesn’t test employees or check their temperatures, and its contact tracing is erratic. (Jameel and McCarthy, 9/18)

A federal judge in Washington state on Thursday granted a request from 14 states to temporarily block operational changes within the U.S. Postal Service that have been blamed for a slowdown in mail delivery, saying President Trump and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy are “involved in a politically motivated attack” on the agency that could disrupt the 2020 election. (Viebeck and Bogage, 9/17)