More than a few people who voted for Joe Biden as our next president were not unhappy with one aspect of incumbent President Donald Trump, we suspect. It was his pledge to battle the federal bureaucracy on behalf of the American people.

Trump calls it “the swamp” — and there is ample evidence his campaign against it failed dismally. Ironically, one demonstration of that involves the U.S. Postal Service.

Among eyes on the USPS during this election season have been those of U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan, in Washington, D.C.

Prior to the election, Sullivan had ordered that USPS inspectors sweep postal facilities to discover mailed-in ballots that had not been delivered in a timely manner. Millions of Americans shared Sullivan’s concern.

Sullivan’s order does not seem unreasonable, although USPS officials seem to have thought it was. They ignored it.

On the day after the election, a furious Sullivan demanded answers. His anger was compounded by the fact USPS officials did not see fit to inform him they had decided not to comply with the order. He said he may require Postmaster Louis DeJoy to testify on the matter.

“I’m not going to forget it. … Someone may have a price to pay for that,” Sullivan said of the USPS action.

Someone should pay for the agency’s refusal to comply with a lawful order from a federal judge. USPS officials’ insistence that it would not have been practical to do what he ordered carries no weight. As Sullivan noted, had officials informed him of their concerns, he might have been willing to consider alternatives.

This, then, is “the swamp” — a bureaucracy the leaders of which apparently consider themselves to be accountable to no one, not even the third branch of government.

Biden has vowed to reverse many of Trump’s policies. Perhaps he should make an exception regarding “the swamp.”

editorial@tribtoday.com