Postmaster general called to testify.
WASHINGTON — Facing a public backlash over mail delays, the Trump administration scrambled to respond Monday as the House prepared an emergency vote to halt delivery interruptions and service changes that Democrats warned could imperil the November election.
The Postal Service said it has stopped removing mailboxes and mailsorting machines amid an outcry from lawmakers. President Trump flatly denied he was asking for the mail to be delayed even as he leveled fresh criticism on universal ballots and mailin voting.
“Wouldn’t do that,” Trump told reporters Monday. “I have encouraged everybody: Speed up the mail, not slow the mail.”
Embattled Postmaster General Louis DeJoy will testify next Monday before Congress, along with the chairman of the Postal Service board of governors.
Democrats and some Republicans say actions by the new postmaster general, a Trump ally and a major Republican donor, have endangered millions of Americans who rely on the post office to obtain prescription drugs and other needs, including an expected surge in mailin voting this fall.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling the House back into session over the crisis at the Postal Service, setting up a political showdown amid growing concerns that the Trump
White House is trying to undermine the agency ahead of the election.
Pelosi cut short lawmakers’ summer recess with a vote expected Saturday on legislation that would prohibit changes at the agency. The package will also include $25 billion to shore up the Postal Service, which faces continued financial losses amid declines in firstclass and business mail.
The decision to recall the House carries a political punch. Voting in the House will highlight the issue after the Democratic National Convention nominating Joe Biden as the party’s presidential pick and pressure the Republicanheld Senate to respond. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sent senators home for a summer recess.
At an event in his home state of Kentucky on Monday, McConnell distanced himself from Trump’s complaints about mail operations. But the Republican leader also declined to recall senators to Washington, vowing the Postal Service “is going to be just fine.”
On Monday, two Democratic lawmakers called on the FBI to investigate whether DeJoy or members of the independent Postal Board of Governors may have committed a crime in slowing the mail. Reps. Ted Lieu of Torrance (Los Angeles County) and Hakeem Jeffries of New York cited reports that mailsorting machines were being dismantled and policy changes have delayed mail delivery.