White House reportedly blocked the US Postal Service from sending face masks to every US household in April

The White House blocked the US Postal Service from sending face masks to every US household in April The Washington Post reported that the White House scuttled a plan for the Postal Service to send out over 650 million masks to avoid causing "panic." Grace Panetta Business Insider

The White House scrapped a plan by the US Postal Service to send every American household a face mask in April, The Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing documents obtained through public-records requests. 

The Post obtained thousands of internal Postal Service documents that revealed previously unreported details of the agency's struggle to deal with the Trump administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The documents showed that in early April, after public-health experts began recommending face masks to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, some officials at the Department of Health and Human Services suggested that the Postal Service, an agency that delivers mail to the entire country, could be uniquely positioned to deliver packs of reusable masks to every American household. 

A draft press release obtained by The Post showed that the Postal Service was preparing to send out 650 million masks, first targeting areas like Louisiana, Michigan, and New York, which at the time were experiencing particularly severe outbreaks of COVID-19. 

But the White House immediately put the kibosh on the idea when it caught wind of the plan, multiple Trump administration officials told The Post, with one official saying: "There was concern from some in the White House Domestic Policy Council and the office of the vice president that households receiving masks might create concern or panic."...