USPS officials will testify on mail changes

WASHINGTON – Top U.S. Postal Service officials will testify before Congress next week amid increasing scrutiny of changes at the agency that Democrats worry may hinder the elections in November.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and Chairman of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors Robert Duncan agreed to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Aug. 24, Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., announced Monday.

“The American people want their mail, medicines and mail-in ballots delivered in a timely way, and they certainly do not want drastic changes and delays in the midst of a global pandemic just months before the election,” Maloney said. She said her committee expects the Postal Service to produce documents about the changes.

Democrats hammered President Donald Trump for cuts at the Postal Service, though Trump defended his administration’s stewardship. Monday morning, in an interview with “Fox and Friends,” Trump slammed the agency as “one of the disasters of the world.”

Lawmakers argued the cuts at the Postal Service cast doubt on its ability to handle a surge of mail-in ballots in November’s election. The coronavirus pandemic prompted many states to increase voters’ ability to vote by mail to reduce the crowds on Election Day and to provide an alternative to in-person voting for those at the greatest risk from the virus.

Despite Trump’s rhetoric against voting by mail, his campaign asked state Republican parties to encourage voters to request mail ballots.

Friday, the Postal Service warned election officials around the country that even if ballots are requested before state deadlines and mailed back quickly, some may not be delivered in time to be counted.

Rep. Tom O’Halleran, D-Ariz., a leader in the moderate House Blue Dog Caucus, said Monday that DeJoy’s actions “to sabotage the USPS are tampering with the health, safety and economic security of American citizens.”

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives is set to end its recess early and return Saturday to vote on legislation that would prevent further changes to the structure or operations of the Postal Service. If the bill passes the House, it faces an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled Senate.