Protesters with Shut Down DC protest prepare to march to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s home in Washington, DC, USA, on Saturday, August 15, 2020.
Eric Lee | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Several leading Democratic senators on Monday called on the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors to re-implement sweeping operational changes by new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy – and remove him if he does not comply.
The austerity measures introduced by DeJoy, a major donor to Republicans and committees that support the re-election of President Donald Trump, have been blamed for reports of widespread postal delays. They also raise fears about the Post Office’s ability to deal with an expected flood of post-vote votes in the 2020 elections.
Democrats have questioned whether the changes are a political tactic to undermine USPS, a federal agency, in ways that could affect the counting of votes in the November race between Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
“Mr. DeJoy seems to be making a partisan effort, with the support of President Trump, to slow down and degrade the postal service and undermine the mission of the United States Postal Service,” said seven Democratic senators, led by Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Leader of the Senate Minority Chuck Schumer of New York, in a letter to the USPS Board of Governors.
The senators’ latest request is hardly Congress’s first request to reverse DeJoy’s reinstatement of the Post Office. Members of both parties have called on the postmaster general to play into his new policy, which apparently includes major cuts in overtime and crackdowns in making late trips to deliver mail.
Chamber member Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Said Sunday that she is recalling the House from the summer recess to vote on House Oversight Speaker Carolyn Maloney’s bill to block DeJoy’s changes from taking effect until the coronavirus pandemic is over. .
Trump, an aggressive critic of mail-in voting, denied that he encouraged DeJoy to slow down the post. “I have encouraged everyone to ‘accelerate the mail,'” he told reporters outside the White House on Monday morning.
DeJoy assured this month that the USPS has “ample capacity” to handle election post.
But senators wrote Monday that DeJoy “has taken numerous actions that threaten the service and integrity of the Postal Service.”
“Mr. DeJoy’s short term has endangered millions of Americans who rely on the Postal Service to keep in touch with their friends and family, obtain prescription and other daily necessities, and gain access to their Social Security,” he said. Veterans affairs and other benefits, “she wrote. “And his efforts threaten the ability of Americans to vote in the 2020 election.”
A USPS spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC.
The group of senators, which also includes Vermont’s Bernie Sanders, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Gary Peters of Michigan, and Minnesota’s Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar, told the board that they “have the authority and responsibility to act” under the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970.
“Should he not cooperate with these efforts, you have the authority, under the Post Reorganization Act, ‘to remove the Postmaster – General,’ with ‘a favorable vote of an absolute majority of the directors in office,’ ‘ said the letter.
Warren doubled that point in a tweet later Monday morning. “The Postal Service Board of Governors must use its authority to reverse DeJoy’s changes that sabotage USPS operations – and remove DeJoy as Postmaster General if he does not cooperate,” she wrote.
The letter was sent to six members of the council, all of whom were appointed by Trump.
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