#USPS vows it won’t change equipment, overtime until after 2020 election

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Tuesday pledged not to make any changes to equipment or overtime at the US Postal Service until after the election.

DeJoy is poised to testify Friday before a Senate committee and on Monday before a House committee about cutbacks to services and machinery ahead of an anticipated deluge of mail-in ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“The Postal Service is ready today to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives this fall,” DeJoy said in a statement.

“Even with the challenges of keeping our employees and customers safe and healthy as they operate amid a pandemic, we will deliver the nation’s election mail on time and within our well-established service standards.”

DeJoy, who took office in May, said he was expanding a task force on election mail in response to concerns.

He said reforms are needed at the USPS, but that to “avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail,” he is “suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded.”

“Retail hours at Post Offices will not change. Mail processing equipment and blue collection boxes will remain where they are. No mail processing facilities will be closed. And we reassert that overtime has, and will continue to be, approved as needed,” he said.

Democrats accuse DeJoy and President Trump of attempting to sabotage the election via the USPS. Former President Barack Obama said Trump was trying to “kneecap” the USPS and activists have rallied around neighborhood mail depositories, with some residents camping out to “protect” their mailboxes.

Trump denies undermining balloting, though he often criticizes states that will mail ballots to all voters due to the pandemic, arguing it creates more opportunity for fraud. He said Democrats are to blame for not approving Postal Service funds as part of stalled COVID-19 relief legislation.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Sunday that lawmakers would be recalled from summer recess to vote on legislation from Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) that would have barred the USPS from making any changes to services that were running at the start of the year.