Pelosi says postmaster general has no plans to restore mail cuts
WASHINGTON — The Postal Service faced more questions and a federal lawsuit Wednesday over mail disruptions, despite assurances by President Donald Trump’s postmaster general of no more service changes until after the November election — a pledge made only after a public outcry.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told her he has no intention of restoring removed blue mailboxes or sorting equipment and no plans for employee overtime. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said officials are withholding information about Mr. DeJoy’s selection to the job. With the agency in turmoil, civil and voting rights advocates are suing to bring mail operations back to normal.
Ms. Pelosi, D-Calif., said she told Mr. DeJoy in a phone call his decision for a temporary pause was “wholly insufficient and does not reverse damage already wreaked.”
The uproar over the Postal Service is expected to spill out Friday as Mr. DeJoy testifies before the Senate and Saturday as the House convenes for a rare session. The House is set to vote on legislation to reverse the service changes and provide $25 billion to shore up operations.
Widespread mail disruptions have stunned Americans and led to warnings Mr. Trump is trying to undermine the Postal Service as he rails against mail-in ballots, just as millions of people are trying vote absentee to avoid polling places during the COVID-19 crisis.
Civil and voting rights organizations said Wednesday they are suing to immediately halt the changes and restore operations.
“We never imagined that we would be in this position with one of the oldest and most trusted institutions in our country,” said Virginia Kase, CEO of the League of Women Voters.
Ms. Kase said even with Mr. DeJoy’s decision to halt the changes, the organization felt it had no choice but to go forward with the others in the lawsuit. “We need guarantees in place that this will not happen again, prior to the election,” she said.
At the White House, Mr. Trump’s team has insisted the president has no intention of disrupting mail delivery now or before Election Day.
But Mr. Trump leveled more attacks on absentee voting. “IF YOU CAN PROTEST IN PERSON, YOU CAN VOTE IN PERSON!” the president tweeted.
Mr. Schumer, who spoke to Mr. DeJoy late Tuesday, said he asked the postmaster for a written explanation of exactly what changes he was halting and if he would be restoring services.
Mr. Schumer, D-N.Y., also called on the Postal Service’s board of governors to provide “answers on why Mr. DeJoy was selected” for the job. Mr. Schumer said the board told him previously “much of the information I requested was confidential and declined to provide it.”
Flares also went up Wednesday over a little-noticed rule that prohibits postal workers from providing witness signatures on absentee ballots while they’re working, which could impact rural Alaska voters.
Mr. DeJoy, a former supply chain CEO, is a Republican donor and the first postmaster general who did not come from the ranks of the Postal Service. He has pledged to revamp the Postal Service, which has struggled financially ever since 2006, confronting a decline in first-class mail and a new requirement to prefund its employee retiree health care benefits.
On Tuesday, Mr. DeJoy said he was halting those initiatives until after the election “to avoid even the appearance of impact on election mail.”
“We will deliver the nation’s election mail on time,” Mr. DeJoy said in a statement.