Washington – Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on the House on Sunday to return to a special session to vote on legislation banning the Postal Service from introducing any changes to operations or level of service it had in place on January 1, 2020. senior Democratic aide tells CBS News the likely plan is to return on Saturday, with Friday as travel day to the Democratic National Convention.
“Alarmingly, we see across the nation the devastating effects of the president’s campaign to sabotage the election by manipulating the Postal Service to decipher voters,” Pelosi said in a letter to Democrats. “Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, one of Trump’s top mega-donors, has proved a complicated crown as he continues to make rapid progress in new operational changes that degrade postal services, slow down the post, and – according to the Postal Service itself – threatening to deny the possibility of Americans being eligible to cast their votes by mail in the next election. ”
Democratic leaders in Congress have raised pressure on top U.S. Postal Service officials to answer questions about recent operational changes that have led to delays in mail delivery amid growing concerns. Many voters could be dispelled by late arrival.
Democrats demand new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and Postal Service Board of Governors President Robert Duncan appear before the House of Commons for oversight and reform before April 24, raising the date of a hearing of mid-September, which DeJoy was asked to participate.
The faster oversight hearing comes as union leaders and congressional Democrats have sounded the alarm about the backlog of emails and delays in delivery caused by operational changes carried out by DeJoy, which they claim has led to dysfunction at the Postal Service.
“The postmaster general and top postal leaders must answer to Congress and the American people why they are pushing this dangerous new policy, which threatens to silence the votes of millions, months before the election,” Pelosi, Leader Chuck of Senate Schumer, House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney and Senate First Chamber Senator Gary Peters said in a statement announcing the hearing.
Schumer also calls on Senator Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin who leads the Senate panel on Homeland Security, to urgently hear their own oversight with DeJoy and Duncan. If DeJoy refuses to testify, Schumer said he should be removed from his post.
“Leader McConnell and Senate Republicans cannot continue to ignore the problems that DeJoy’s reforms have caused or say a problem does not exist,” he said. “Congress should step up and force the postal service to reverse these changes if the Postmaster General and the Board of Directors refuse to act.”
The Postal Service has found itself under control since DeJoy, a major GOP donor and close ally of President Trump, took the post of postmaster general in June. In the weeks since taking over the helm of the agency, DeJoy has made changes designed to save money-covered Postal Service money, such as adding overtime, reorganizing the agencies’ top rankings. and prohibiting postal workers from making additional trips for late arrival.
But the changes have led to delays in mail delivery and a backlog of letters and parcels, prompting Democrats and some Republicans to invoke DeJoy’s guidelines because of concerns that regulations, bills and checks are not delivered on time.
Lawmakers and election officials are also warning of the impact the operational shifts could have on the running delivery of mail-in ballots, as many states have expanded their vote-by-mail for the November election due to the pandemic of coronavirus.
The Postal Service confirmed Friday that pending the influx of post-in votes, it sent letters up to 46 states warn post-in-ballots may not arrive in time to count.
Democrats said the possible delay in the delivery of ballot papers “is a serious threat to the integrity of the election and to our entire democracy.”
“If Democrats in the House and House of Representatives respond urgently to tackle the postal service sabotage, Republicans in the House and House of Representatives are missing out on action,” Democratic leaders said Sunday.
Democrats argue that the changes to the Postal Service are part of Mr. Trump to cut the agency and make it harder for Americans to vote by mail, which he vehemently opposes. DeJoy, they claim, “acted as an interpreter” to Mr. Trump.
While House Democrats approved a sweeping legislative package in May that would include $ 25 billion for the Postal Service and $ 3.5 billion for electoral assistance to states, Mr. Trump on Thursday acknowledged that starring the Federal Assistance Agency is the effort for post-in mood would expand.
But the president seems to be heading in the wrong direction, reporters said later Thursday that he would not veto legislation that provided an injection of funding for the Postal Service.
On Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told CNN’s State of the Union that Mr Trump “will not interfere with anyone who casts their vote in a legitimate way, whether it’s the post office or something. otherwise. “
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