#Postmaster General to testify before Congress on service changes, mail-in ballots

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Postmaster General Louis Dejoy
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

WASHINGTON — Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has agreed to testify before Congress next week amid allegations from Democrats that he is undermining the cash-strapped US Postal Service ahead of the November election.

House Oversight Committee chairwoman Rep. Carolyn Maloney wrote to DeJoy on Sunday calling for an “urgent” hearing on cost-cutting changes at the USPS, sparking fears it could slow delivery and impinge on Americans’ ability to cast postal votes.

DeJoy, a Trump appointee who came into the role in May this year, agreed to appear before the committee on Monday, Aug. 24 at 10 a.m.

“Your testimony is particularly urgent given the troubling influx of reports of widespread delays at postal facilities across the country — as well as President Trump’s explicit admission last week that he has been blocking critical coronavirus funding for the Postal Service in order to impair mail-in voting efforts for the upcoming elections in November,” Maloney (D. NY) wrote.

President Trump on Monday accused the USPS of being “run horribly” and has said he is opposed funding increases for the agency to help with mail-in ballot delivery because he believes it is a fraudulent way to vote.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Sunday that her chamber would be recalled to vote on legislation from Maloney that would bar USPS from making any changes to services that were running at the start of the year, blocking DeJoy’s cost-cutting plans.

Last month, USPS warned Pennsylvania officials that mail-in ballots in the key battleground state may not be delivered on time because the deadline was too tight for their service deadlines, presenting an “overwhelming” risk to voters, one executive wrote, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer report.

Other reports have emerged of seniors going without vital medicine for weeks in states such as Texas due to a national slowdown of mail.

The agency has called on Congress to include a desperately-needed cash injection for their services in a fourth coronavirus stimulus bill as they hemorrhage funds amid the pandemic. House Democrats included $25 billion in funding for the Postal Service in a package that is unlikely to pass the Senate.

Republicans and President Trump have been opposed to that figure and the president has used the delayed primary results in Maloney’s own seat to highlight his displeasure with mailed-in ballots.

Trump on Monday accused Amazon of being responsible for the cratering of the Postal Service’s bottom line and said the agency needed to increase the amount it charges the online shopping behemoth for delivery of packages.