House Democrats are questioning Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s announcement that he will delay postal changes until after the election and will push forward by a vote on Saturday to ban disruptions to email service.
“Well, we’ll be in the law to make that happen,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Said Tuesday of DeJoy’s reversal on operational changes.
Hoyer called the actions of President Trump and DeJoy against the Post Office “deviant,” “not surprising,” and “likely criminal.”
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Chamberlain Nancy Pelosi supported DeJoy’s announcement as a “temporary break” in Trump’s “election sabotage campaign.” She said the House on Saturday will return from the recession to pass legislation to provide $ 25 billion in funding that the USPS administration wanted and to ban DeJoy from cutting back on email service during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Well done, Postmaster General DeJoy, but the House will still pass on our bill to ensure the delivery of the mail through the elections,” Pelosi tweeted, along with the hashtag: #DontMessWithUSPS
Amid nationwide concerns about postal delays, and even protests outside his DC home, DeJoy announced earlier Tuesday that his austerity measures would be put on hold.
“To prevent even the appearance of any influence on election post, I suspend these initiatives until after the end of the election,” DeJoy said in a statement.
He continued: “Retail hours at post offices will not change. Email processing equipment and blue storage boxes will remain where they are. No mail processing facilities will be closed. And we confirm that overtime has and will continue, approved as necessary.”
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Alarm bells went off nationally when Thomas Marshall, general counsel and executive vice president of the Postal Service, sent letters claiming 46 states and the District of Columbia that USPS could not guarantee that all mail-thrown ballots would arrive the time to count in the November elections. , the Washington Post reported first.
During his three months on the job, DeJoy implemented a series of austerity measures, including an overtime cut that postal workers had used to clear e-mail backlogs, and he also approved the removal of 671 mail-sorting machines, roughly 10 percent of the inventory, the paper reported.
In addition, there has been a very visible removal of blue mailboxes across the country, which has caused a stir on social media.
First Chamber member Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Said DeJoy and Trump were “caught red-handed.”
“We have enough to worry about foreign interference,” Van Hollen said, referring to Russia’s mediation. “We do not need a job inside to try to restore our elections. That is what happened here. We have caught them with pink hands. But now we have to submit legislation to make it very clear that this is not acceptable.”
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The vote on Saturday in the House will reverse DeJoy’s changes, which have resulted in delays in email service just before an election that will rely heavily on mail-in voting, which Trump opposes.
Democrats also called a hearing for Monday at the House Oversight Committee to hear from DeJoy and USPS Board of Governors Robert Duncan to discuss the changes to email services during the coronavirus pandemic.
DeJoy’s statement on Tuesday came shortly after 14 state attorneys general announced a federal lawsuit challenging the changes at USPS, claiming the changes could undermine the 2020 election.
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Fox News’ Evie Fordham and Jason Donner contributed to this report.
