STEVEN SLOAN 华盛顿 —— 早在成为美国邮政署最高官员之前，大卫·斯坦纳还是一位企业高管，在2000年代中期浏览电视节目时看到了唐纳德·特朗普在《学徒》中的表现。他并不以为然。
STEVEN SLOAN WASHINGTON — Long before he was the top official at the U.S. Postal Service, David Steiner was a corporate executive surfing mid-oughts television when he came across Donald Trump on “The Apprentice.”He was unimpressed.
“如果这就是领导力，如果这就是我们告诉人们的、我们的文化和媒体所描绘的领导力，那我们就完了，”时任废物管理公司首席执行官的斯坦纳在2007年阿肯色大学克林顿公共服务学院的演讲中说道。“如果这就是领导力，那我不干了。”
“If that is leadership, if that’s what we’re telling people that our culture and our media portrays as leadership, we’re screwed,” Steiner, then the CEO of Waste Management, said during a 2007 speech at the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service. “If that’s leadership, count me out.”
“老天爷保佑，”他补充道，引来一阵笑声，“如果我非得把头发弄成那个样子，如果我非得那样做才能当领导，那你绝对可以把我算在外面。”近二十年后，特朗普从真人秀电视节目跨入了总统宝座。而曾经的批评者——例如副总统万斯、国务卿鲁比奥和德克萨斯州参议员克鲁兹——如今忠诚地执行他的议程。
“And for God’s sake,” he added to laughter, “if I have to get my hair to look like that, if I have to do that to be a leader, you can definitely count me out.”Nearly two decades later, Trump has migrated from reality television to the presidency. And onetime detractors — Vice President JD Vance , Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, for example — now loyally execute his agenda.
特朗普试图利用邮政署作为重塑美国选举的工具，这正在考验斯坦纳是否会走上类似的道路。
Trump’s effort to use the Postal Service as a tool to reshape American elections is testing whether Steiner will follow a similar path.
今年特朗普签署行政令限制邮寄选票时，斯坦纳迅速推进落实该措施的规则制定工作，辩称别无选择。但在美国最高法院驳回该举措后，斯坦纳告诉美联社，该计划中最具争议的一个要素——选民名册政府门户网站——的工作已停止。
When Trump signed an executive order restricting mail ballots this year, Steiner moved quickly to finalize a rule implementing the measure, arguing he had little choice. But after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the effort , Steiner told The Associated Press that work had stopped on one of the plan’s most controversial elements, a government portal for voter rolls.
他拒绝认可这位共和党总统的行政令是合理的政策，表示他专注于执行，并让法院最终裁决此事。
He refused to endorse the Republican president’s order as sound policy, saying he was focused on implementation and letting the courts ultimately decide the matter.
“我无权决定强加给我们的规则中哪些我接受、哪些不接受，”他说。“我们是行政部门下的一个独立机构。”这一事件引发了对斯坦纳的猛烈批评，指责他允许特朗普动用一个本应免受政治干预的机构。
“I don’t get to decide what rules that are put on us that I decide to accept or not accept,” he said. “We are an independent agency of the executive branch.”The episode prompted fierce criticism of Steiner for allowing Trump to deploy an agency designed to be shielded from politics.
科罗拉多州民主党籍州务卿杰娜·格里斯沃尔德称他为“特朗普的走狗”。内华达州民主党籍州务卿西斯科·阿吉拉尔最近要求国会派遣观察员，以确保邮政工作人员能够顺利地扫描装有邮寄选票的信封；他表示：“特朗普政府试图利用联邦机构来干预我们的选举，而美国邮政总局的领导层也在配合他们的行动。”密歇根州民主党参议员埃莉莎·斯洛特金在今年夏天的国会听证会上指责斯坦纳是特朗普的“棋子”。数十名民主党议员要求斯坦纳公开自己在与白宫沟通过程中的所作所为。
Jena Griswold, Colorado’s Democratic secretary of state , called him a “Trump lackey.”Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, a Democrat, recently asked Congress to deploy observers to ensure postal workers can scan envelopes holding mail ballots without disruption, saying the Trump administration “has attempted to weaponize federal agencies to interfere in our elections, and the leadership at USPS is going along with it.”Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., accused Steiner of being a Trump “pawn” during a congressional hearing this summer. Dozens of congressional Democrats have pressed Steiner to reveal his interactions with the White House during the development of the mail ballot rule.
一些共和党人也加入了批评的行列。密苏里州参议员乔什·霍利对邮政系统出现的混乱现象感到愤怒，要求斯坦纳辞职，并提出了立法，禁止他领取奖金。
Some Republicans have joined in the criticism. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, incensed by abandoned mail, called for Steiner’s resignation and introduced legislation to block him from receiving a bonus.
在一场长时间的采访中，斯坦纳对自己在华盛顿所受到的批评感到十分惊讶。他坚称自己并非“政客”，并表示尽管受到批评，自己也没有辞职的打算；他将国会上的激烈辩论称为“作秀”，认为这些辩论与 Capitol Hill 上更为实质性的私下讨论完全不同。
During a lengthy interview, Steiner seemed surprised at points by his reception in Washington. He insisted he wasn’t a “political person” and said he had no intention of stepping down despite the criticism. He dismissed heated congressional appearances as “theater” at odds with more substantive private interactions on Capitol Hill.
然而，当提到斯坦纳在2007年（即他开始政治生涯之前）对特朗普的言论时，他显得非常懊恼。斯坦纳回忆起自己在大学里发表过演讲，但表示不记得当时的具体内容，并承认自己有时说话会比较轻率：“真有趣，我不记得了。”白宫没有回应关于斯坦纳言论及其对美国邮政总局管理方式的任何评论。
Steiner was chagrined, however, at the mention of his 2007 remarks on Trump, delivered well before he launched a political career. Steiner recalled speaking at the university but said he didn’t remember his comments, acknowledging a tendency to be “flippant.”“That’s funny,” he said. “I don’t recall it.”The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment on Steiner’s remarks or his stewardship of the Postal Service.
美国邮政总局的历史可以追溯到本杰明·富兰克林——这位美国首位邮政总局局长；富兰克林的肖像和半身像就陈列在斯坦纳的办公室里，办公室的窗户正对着华盛顿码头。该机构拥有超过63万名员工，其规模远超许多内阁部门。
The Postal Service dates to Benjamin Franklin, the first postmaster general, whose portrait and bust are displayed in Steiner’s office overlooking the Washington Wharf. The agency has more than 630,000 employees, dwarfing many Cabinet departments.
在特朗普执政的华盛顿，要想迅速获得高层职位，通常需要大笔捐款；然而66岁的斯坦纳显然并未走这条路。他主要向共和党人捐款，但在2004年也曾资助过约翰·克里（John Kerry）的民主党总统竞选活动。与他的前任（邮政局局长路易斯·德乔伊，Louis DeJoy）不同，斯坦纳既不是共和党的主要捐助者，也不是特朗普的支持者。
While the quickest way to top jobs in Trump’s Washington is often by writing big checks, the 66-year-old Steiner doesn’t appear to have followed that course. He has largely donated to Republicans but also gave to John Kerry’s Democratic presidential campaign in 2004.
斯坦纳出生于加利福尼亚州奥克兰，是家中八个孩子之一，他的父亲曾在雪佛龙（Chevron）公司工作。在进入废物管理公司（Waste Management）之前，他从事过企业法和证券法方面的工作，并于2004年成为该公司的首席执行官，任职长达12年。他此前还长期担任联邦快递（FedEx）的董事；联邦快递的董事长布拉德·马丁（Brad Martin）评价他“注重实际成果”，且“几乎不涉及政治事务”。
Unlike his predecessor as postmaster general, Louis DeJoy , Steiner was not a major GOP donor or Trump backer. Born in Oakland, California, as one of eight children to a father who spent his career at Chevron, Steiner worked in corporate and securities law before moving to Waste Management in 2000. He became CEO in 2004 and ran the company for 12 years. He was also a longtime director at FedEx, where board chairman Brad Martin recalled him as “outcome oriented” and rarely political.
“他会遵守规则，也会遵守法律，”马丁说，“我不记得我们曾讨论过政治问题。”当猎头联系他询问是否愿意担任邮政局局长时，他当时已经基本退出了公司的日常管理工作，起初并不愿意接受这个职位。
“He’s going to follow the rules. He’s going to follow the law,” Martin said. “I don’t recall us ever talking politics.”By the time a headhunter contacted Steiner about the postmaster general job, he was largely removed from daily corporate life and initially demurred.
“我和妻子商量过，我们都认为我已经很幸福地退休了，”他说。不过在参观诺曼底的海滩后，他感受到了自己的公民责任，于是改变了主意。
“I talked to my wife, and we both agreed I was happily retired,” he said. He changed his mind, he said, during a visit to the beaches of Normandy, feeling a sense of civic duty.
如今在邮政局工作，他的年薪约为34.6万美元，外加一笔相当于年薪一半的搬迁补贴；这远远低于他在废物管理公司最后一年所获得的1700万美元薪酬。他的现任职位旨在保持与政治过程的距离——他直接向由总统任命、并经参议院批准的董事会汇报工作。
Now at the Postal Service, he earns about $346,000 in annual salary along with a relocation bonus that amounts to half his salary, far less than the $17 million in compensation he earned during his final year at Waste Management. His current role is designed to exist one layer removed from the political process, reporting to a board of governors that is selected by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
他是在2025年被现任董事会聘用的，董事会由五名成员组成，其中三人是民主党人。除一人外，其余四人都是由乔·拜登（Joe Biden）总统任命的。随着四名特朗普提名的候选人（均为共和党人）等待参议院的批准，董事会的组成可能会发生变化。斯坦纳只有被董事会解雇的资格。
He was hired in 2025 by a board that was made up of five members, three of whom were Democrats. All but one were appointed by President Joe Biden . That makeup could change as four Trump nominees — all Republicans — await Senate confirmation. Steiner can be fired only by the board.
斯坦纳表示，他是在被选为邮政局长后，应董事会的要求，首次与商务部长霍华德·卢特尼克一同会见了特朗普。此后，他形容自己与白宫的关系非常疏远。“我们并不在他们的关注范围内，”他说。
Steiner said he first met Trump along with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick at the board’s urging after he was already selected as postmaster general. Since then, he described a minimal relationship with the White House. “We don’t fly on the radar,” he said.
然而，直到今年3月特朗普重启打击邮寄投票的行动，情况发生了变化。斯坦纳表示，他“没有参与该行政令的制定过程”，也是在签署前约一个月才首次看到相关内容。
That is, until Trump revived his effort in March to crack down on mail voting. Steiner said he “wasn’t in on the development piece” of the order and first saw it about a month before it was signed.
“他们把文件交给我们，说：‘让你们的律师看看，你们打算如何执行它？’”斯坦纳说。
“They gave it to us to say, ‘Have your lawyers look at it, and how do you operationalize it?’”Steiner said.
该门户网站在邮政系统内部引发了大规模的开发工作，但一些州批评此举属于联邦越权。康涅狄格州民主党参议员理查德·布卢门撒尔发布的一份举报人报告指出，该系统建立得过于仓促且漏洞百出，尽管斯坦纳表示他有信心该系统本可以在9月15日左右推出。“最艰巨的任务显然是IT工作，”斯坦纳说。尽管最高法院驳回了该规定，但邮政局面临的形势并未变得轻松。
The portal spurred a massive development effort inside the Postal Service while some states criticized it as federal overreach. A whistleblower report released by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., argued the system was hastily built and riddled with errors, though Steiner said he was confident it could have been unveiled around Sept. 15. “The heavy lifting was clearly, clearly the IT work,” Steiner said. Though the Supreme Court dispensed with the rule, the dynamics for the Postal Service don’t get easier.
该机构去年净亏损90亿美元，斯坦纳警告称，除非国会取消150亿美元的借款上限，否则该机构可能很快就会耗尽现金。政治障碍阻碍了通过削减服务或关闭部分邮局来节省成本的潜在举措。
The agency posted a $9 billion net loss last year, and Steiner has warned it could soon run out of cash unless Congress lifts a $15 billion borrowing cap. Political hurdles have prevented potential cost savings from cutting service or closing some post offices.
虽然特朗普的行政令不会生效，但邮政局在今年的选举中仍将发挥关键作用。人们越来越担心邮寄选票会因邮戳过晚而被拒收。斯坦纳鼓励选民在选举前一周寄出选票，以避免出现问题。
And while Trump’s executive order won’t take effect, the Postal Service will still play a critical role in this year’s elections. There are mounting concerns that mail ballots could be rejected for late postmarks. Steiner encouraged voters to get their ballots in a week before the election to avoid problems.
邮政局是政府中为数不多仍受到好评的部门之一。根据去年盖洛普的一项民意调查，超过半数（56%）的美国人认为其工作表现“优秀”或“良好”。如果该机构被认为日益政治化，这种情况可能会发生改变。
The Postal Service is a rare corner of government still viewed favorably with more than half of Americans, 56%, saying it was doing an “excellent” or “good” job in a Gallup poll conducted last year. That could change if the agency is seen as increasingly political.
然而，斯坦纳表示，美国民众会根据自己的实际体验来评判邮政服务。
Steiner, however, said Americans will judge the Postal Service by their experience of it.
“他们关心的是在婚礼结束后才收到请柬，或者寄出的包裹不翼而飞，”他说。“如果我们想赢得美国公众的信任，那就让我们成为最好的服务提供商。其他一切都只是噪音。”
“What they care about is when they get that wedding invitation after the wedding or when they send a package and it disappears,” he said. “If we want to have the trust of the American public, let’s be the best service provider. Everything else is noise.”