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The United States Postal Service has been on the brink of complete bankruptcy for nearly two decades, but that didnt stop it from paying out $90,000 to cover for paid employees who took time off to campaign for Hillary Clinton.

According to an Inspector Generals report, 100 USPS workers took extended leaves of absence to hit the campaign trail on behalf of the postal unionthe National Association of Letter Carriers. The union, which had by then endorsed Hillary Clinton, used these same postal workers to supplement their grassroots political operations in swing states.

Technically, postal workers are allowed to take unpaid holidays in order to help the union, but government employees arent supposed to actively campaign for a candidate. The Inspector General is currently investigating whether the postal workers who took time off violated that precept.

Part of the investigation revealed, however, that campaigning for Clinton cost the cash-strapped agency dearly. Workers who covered for the absent, politicking employees were paid overtime to fill shifts. To make up for the 2,776 days lost, the post office shelled out more than $90,000.

In government terms thats barely a toilet seat at the Pentagon, but its still an expense the agency didnt have to incur. The USPS is struggling to make ends meet, and independent USPS office managers have to approve time offincluding union-driven unpaid leavewith an eye to saving money.

But in this case, the Inspector General said, the union appears to have pressured USPS managers to grant their members time off, spending taxpayer dollars in service of Clintons campaign.

For its part, the Post Office claims that they have a long-standing practice of letting their workers campaign, and that they were just keeping with the tradition of wasting taxpayer funds on the most unnecessary things possible.

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Broke US Postal Service Paid to Cover Employees Campaigning for Hillary Clinton - Heat Street