‘Sabotage’ claim over pre-election US postal reform
DEMOCRATS have accused Donald Trump’s postmaster general of trying to sabotage the postal service ahead of what is expected to be an explosion of mail-in voting for the November 3 election.
Trump has railed against the expansion of mail-in voting, claiming that the election is a “catastrophe waiting to happen”, that it will be fatally undermined by fraud, and deliveries will not be able to cope with the number of ballots. But Democrats have accused him of setting up the postal service as a scapegoat to blame if he loses.
At the centre of the storm is Louis DeJoy, who became postmaster -general in June.
Mr DeJoy (63), a North Carolina businessman, donated more than $2m to Trump and Republicans over the last four years. His wife has been nominated by Trump to be the next US ambassador to Canada. In the last few months he introduced a swathe of cost-cutting measures, including eliminating overtime for hundreds of thousands of postal workers, restricting the number of delivery trips and reducing equipment at mail processing plants.
On Friday he announced more sweeping changes, displacing or reassigning two dozen top postal executives.
Gerald Connolly, the Democrat congressman and chair of the House subcommittee for postal oversight, said: “This is deliberate sabotage to disrupt mail service on the eve of the election — an election that hinges on mail-in ballots. Postmaster general DeJoy should be focused on ensuring delivery standards, not this Trojan Horse reorganisation.”
Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, the Democrat leaders in Congress, met DeJoy last week in what has been described as a “heated” meeting.
The Democrat leadership said: “We believe these changes, made during the middle of a once-in-a-century pandemic, now threaten the timely delivery of mail — including medicines for seniors, pay cheques for workers, and absentee ballots for voters.”
Mr DeJoy, who was appointed by the Postal Service’s board of governors, has vociferously denied any intent to disrupt voting.
He said: “While I certainly have a good relationship with the president of the United States, the notion that I would ever make decisions concerning the Postal Service at the direction of the president, or anyone else in the administration, is wholly off-base.
“I serve at the pleasure of the governors of the Postal Service.”