The House of Representatives on Saturday launched a heated debate over a $ 25 billion funding bill for the US Postal Service (USPS) that Democrats say is needed to prevent President Trump from trying to “destroy” the Post Office before the 2020 post-election. while Republicans dismissed this ‘conspiracy theory’ and blew Democrats up for drawing a purely political vote between two presidential conventions.
“I’m on the floor of the Second Chamber again and looking at a comic strip,” said Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark. “The only outcome this debate will have today is one of entertainment value – nothing substantive.”
DEMS HIT HOME PUBLIC FOR USPS ENTERTAINMENT
Democrats framed the rare Saturday afternoon, however, as a “fire with five alarms” after Postmaster General Louis DeJoy began operational and equipment changes that delayed mail delivery for their constituencies. Meanwhile, Trump continues to vote by e-mail ahead of an election that will increasingly rely on votes sent through the Post Office because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“This is an emergency,” Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass. “And on top of that, we have a president who does not want every vote to be counted in the next election, because he believes that if we count every vote, he will lose. We are in the middle of a pandemic. “More and more people will vote by mail.”
“This president is on a warpath to destroy the postal service,” added rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis.
Mar Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz., Said Democrats use the USPS to pick up “a new Trump conspiracy theory” even though the president does not control the Postmaster General.
“Seems insane, but all too typical of the Trump-hating Democrats,” Lesko said.
The House bill, the Delivering for America Act, would infuse the post office with $ 25 billion, reverse the service changes introduced by DeJoy and prevent the USPS from taking measures that could delay the post until after the coronavirus pandemic as 31 jan. 2021 – what letter I am.
The White House has already threatened a veto of the bill that said “USPS does not need a $ 25 billion fee.”
WITTHUIS IS VETO-THREAT TO $ 25B USPS PAYMENT PAYMENT OUT
The House GOP has printed a “no” vote and an aide said they do not expect to lose a large amount of Republicans on the final vote later Saturday.
Republicans have downplayed concerns about delays in services at the Postal Office, saying DeJoy is taking cautious operational steps at the budget-challenged Post Office. They said that if Democrats really wanted to do something meaningful, they would take a two-part vote Saturday on some coronavirus relief measures.
Democrats point to the $ 3 trillion HEROES Act they passed in May and have since been waiting for the Republican Senate to act on a new incentive bill. That coronavirus measure also included post-funding that Republicans refused.
Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., Called the USPS vote a “theatrical moment” between the Democratic and GOP conventions that has no chance of becoming law.
He called the proposal “stupid” and a “joke” and wondered why Democrats want to give $ 25 billion to DeJoy, when they characterized the new postmaster general as a GOP megadonor to do Trump’s bid.
“We will hear a lot of terrible things about him [DeJoy], but at the end of the day, my [Democratic] friends will vote to give him $ 25 billion, “Cole said. And they’ll do it in an account that has no reform and it just says you can change nothing. Well, how smart is that? “
6 STATES SUE USPS CHANGE CHANGES TO FREEDOM TO DISPLAY ‘FREE AND DANGEROUS TRAFFIC’
“Should we have that money? Absolutely not,” Cole said.
Amid growing concerns about delays via mail, restrictions on overtime and equipment removal, DeJoy announced this week that he would delay further changes to operations until after the election.
“To prevent even the appearance of any influence on election post, I suspend these initiatives until after the election is over,” DeJoy said in a statement Tuesday. On Friday, he tried to convince lawmakers in the House of Representatives that election votes would be counted if they were received within seven days of the election, while acknowledging a “dip in the service level.”
But Democrats say they want legislation to reverse the policy changes, such as sorting out sorting machines that were removed and making it illegal for USPS to reduce services.
The House legislation would prohibit reducing services at postal services, dismantling mail sorting machines and removing mailboxes. The bill would also restrict limits on overtime pay, hiring for free, delaying email service and treating election mail if anything less than first class mail.
The USPS legislation is not expected to get a vote in the GOP-led Senate and Trump is expected to veto it when it comes to his office.
“We will pass the bill and it will be in a two-part way today,” D-Calif. Spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi said Saturday. “And then we send it to the senate. … Public sentiment is everything. They will hear from their constituents because this is coming home. Do not receive your email on time at home. Do not receive your prescriptions, especially for our veterans, hit home in a way that is harmful to our country. “
