House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on the House to return into session later this week to vote on a bill that would prevent changes the Trump …
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on the House to return into session later this week to vote on a bill that would prevent changes the Trump administration has made to the Postal Service, alterations Democrats say will cause a slowing of the flow of mail and potentially jeopardize the November election. Pelosi, in a Sunday statement, said the « lives, livelihoods and the life of our American Democracy » are under threat from President Donald Trump, who last week said he opposed giving the USPS more money while at the same time acknowledging the lack of funding may hamper the office’s ability to process mail-in ballots. Pelosi wants the House to vote later this week on Rep. Carolyn Maloney’s Delivering for America Act, which prohibits changes to Postal Service operations in place on Jan.1,2020. Hours before Pelosi’s call to return to session, Democrats urged the postmaster general to testify before a House committee nearly a month earlier than initially requested, saying the « urgent » hearing is needed to address « dangerous » changes made at the Postal Service. In a joint statement, Pelosi, Maloney, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Gary Peters, the ranking Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, called on Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and USPS Board of Governors Chairman Robert Duncan to address « sweeping and dangerous operational changes at the Postal Service that are slowing the mail and jeopardizing the integrity of the election. » DeJoy was scheduled to testify before a House panel on Sept.17, but Maloney, chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, said his testimony was « particularly urgent given the troubling influx of reports of widespread delays at postal facilities across the country. » The hearing is now scheduled for Aug.24. The Democrats said DeJoy and Duncan must explain « why they are pushing these dangerous new policies that threaten to silence the voices of millions, just months before the election. » Congressional Democrats sent Postmaster General Louis DeJoy a 10-page letter on Friday detailing the changes at USPS they feared could delay the mail. Among the shifts in service that worried them was a move to stop treating all election mail as first-class – which could mean a regular delay of up to eight days from prior elections – cutbacks in overtime and a ban on « late » or « extra » delivery trips. An internal USPS document cited by the Democrats warned, « One aspect of these changes that may be difficult for employees is that – temporarily – we may see mail left behind or mail on the workroom floor. » At a news conference Sunday in New York, Schumer argued delayed ballots were not the only consequence of delayed mail delivery. « Imagine how a senior citizen feels when there’s life-dependent pills and they’re late. Lots people depend on the mail to get other necessities during COVID, » Schumer said, referring to the coronavirus pandemic. « To slow down the mail at any time is disgraceful, but to slow it down during COVID is despicable and hurts people.
