House recalled, urges USPS head to testify
WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday she is calling the House back into session this week to vote on a bill prohibiting the U.S. Postal Service from implementing any changes to operations or level of service. The action comes amid growing concerns that the Trump White House is trying to undermine the agency during the coronavirus pandemic while states expand mail-in voting options.
In a letter to Democratic lawmakers Sunday evening, Ms. Pelosi also called on her colleagues to appear at a post office in their district Tuesday for a coordinated news event.
“In a time of a pandemic, the Postal Service is Election Central. Americans should not have to choose between their health and their vote,” she wrote.
Ms. Pelosi said House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer would soon announce the legislative schedule for the coming week. House Democrats were likely to discuss the schedule on a conference call Monday and were expected to be in session by next Saturday, according to a senior Democratic aide, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the plans were private.
Earlier Sunday, Democratic lawmakers demanded that leaders of the Postal Service testify at an emergency oversight hearing Aug. 24 on mail delays.
The House Oversight and
Reform Committee said it wants to hear from new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and from the chair of the Postal Service board of governors, Robert “Mike” Duncan. With heightened scrutiny of its operations, the agency is now requesting a temporary pre-election rate increase, from mid-October through Christmas, though probably not for first-class letters.
The agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment about whether the two men would appear before the House committee. But the Postal Service said Sunday it would stop removing its distinctive blue mailboxes through mid-November following complaints from customers and members of Congress that the collection boxes were being taken away.
“Given the recent customer concerns the Postal Service will postpone removing boxes for a period of 90 days while we evaluate our customers’ concerns,‘‘ said Postal Service spokeswoman Kimberly Frum.
The announcement comes as pressure increases on Mr. DeJoy, a major Republican donor and ally of the president who took control of the agency in June. Mr. DeJoy has pledged to modernize the money-losing agency to make it more efficient; he has eliminated most overtime for postal workers, imposed restrictions on transportation, and reduced the quantity and use of mail-processing equipment.
“The postmaster general and top Postal Service leadership must answer to the Congress and the American people as to why they are pushing these dangerous new policies that threaten to silence the voices of millions, just months before the election,” congressional Democrats said in a statement announcing the hearing.
The lawmakers included House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California; New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney, the committee chair; Senate
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York; and Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which oversees the Postal Service.
President Donald Trump said last week that he was blocking a $25 billion emergency injection sought by the Postal Service, as well as a Democratic proposal to provide $3.6 billion in additional election money to the states. The Republican president worries that mail-in voting could cost him reelection.
The money for the post office is intended to help with processing an expected surge of mail-in ballots. Both funding requests have been tied up in congressional negotiations over a new coronavirus relief package.
On Saturday, Mr. Trump tried to massage his message, saying he supports increasing money for the Postal Service. He said he was refusing to capitulate to Democrats on other parts of the relief package, including funding for states weighed down by debt accumulated before the pandemic.
But the president’s critics were not appeased, contending that Mr. Trump has made the calculation that a lower voter turnout would improve his chances of winning a second term.
“What you are witnessing is a president of the United States who is doing everything he can to suppress the vote, make it harder for people to engage in mail-in balloting at a time when people will be putting their lives on the line by having to go out to a polling station and vote,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”