White House rejects Postal Service aid bill

WASHINGTON — Help for the U.S. Postal Service landed in stalemate Sunday as the White House dismissed an emergency funding bill aimed at shoring up the agency before the November elections as “going nowhere” and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged senators to act quickly.

“The public is demanding action on this now,” Ms. Pelosi said. “I can’t see how the Senate can avoid it unless they do so to their peril.”

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows rejected the legislation the

House passed late Saturday to provide $25 billion and block operational changes by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. Mr. Meadows called it a “political statement,” stressing that President Donald Trump would consider additional money only as part of a broader coronavirus relief package.

“That bill was not a serious bill,” Mr. Meadows said. “And my conversations with a lot of the Democrats on Capitol Hill yesterday is, if you want to be serious about it, this president is willing to put forth money and reforms.”

Mr. Meadows said he planned to speak with Ms. Pelosi later Sunday. The legislation heads to the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has been eyeing a $10 billion postal rescue as part of the next COVID-19 relief package.

“Hopefully what will happen is the Republican senators will take this bill when it comes across, they’ll amend it and actually address many of the things that are hurting America right now in terms of this pandemic response and be able to get it to the president’s desk,” Mr. Meadows said.

Ms. Pelosi, however, called Meadows’ proposals “bare leaves,” saying they don’t address children facing food insecurity, people grappling with evictions, coronavirus testing and treatment, or money for state and local governments.

“What they want to do is not the right path,” she said Sunday. “All the president wants is this one thing: He wants his name on the letter to go out with a check in it, and he doesn’t care about the rest of it.”

With heated debate over mail delays, the House approved the legislation in a rare Saturday session. More than two dozen House Republicans broke with the president in backing the bill, which passed 257-150. Mr. Trump had urged a no vote, railing against mail-in ballots expected to surge in the COVID-19 crisis, and the White House said he would veto it if it reached his desk. Millions of people are expected to opt for mail-in ballots to avoid polling places during the pandemic.

But Mr. McConnell criticized the legislation as part of a postal “conspiracy theory,” echoing similar sentiments during a lively House floor debate.

“The USPS is equipped to handle this election, and if a real need arises, Congress will meet it,” he said Saturday in a statement.