Trump says he is refusing additional post office funding as part of his fight against mail-in voting

As Trump rails against mail-in voting, the Postal Service and DeJoy in particular have come under fire from lawmakers in Congress.

DeJoy, 63, was selected in May by the USPS board of governors — each an appointee of Trump. A former supply-chain logistics CEO, he is the first postmaster general in nearly two decades who has not been a career employee of the agency, according to the Associated Press.

Since his tenure at USPS began in mid-June, DeJoy has set about implementing cost-cutting measures he said are intended to revive the ailing government agency. 

In remarks at the Postal Service Board of Governors open session meeting last week, DeJoy said he is “vigorously focusing on the ingrained inefficiencies in our operations.” He stressed that the Postal Service faces financial oblivion unless “dramatic” changes are made to its structure.

Those changes reportedly include a crackdown on overtime and late trips for mail carriers, meaning that mail would be left behind in distribution centers until the next day if carriers cannot deliver it as part of their normal routes.

Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said DeJoy confirmed those and other changes after they met with him last week.

The result, APWU’s Dimondstein told CNBC, is that mail is being delayed.

“It’s not just one place, it’s not just one incident. This is now a systemic problem throughout the whole Post Office,” Dimondstein said.

In a bipartisan letter sent last Thursday, led by House Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., and Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., more than 80 House members urged DeJoy to reverse the reported changes.

“Millions of Americans rely heavily on the Postal Service for the delivery of essential items — including medications — particularly during the coronavirus pandemic,” the letter said. “The operational changes reportedly taking place around the country put in doubt the ability of ill or at-risk populations to receive their medications on time, which could have dire results.”

A day later, Maloney, along with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and seven other congressional Democrats, asked USPS Inspector General Tammy Whitcomb to conduct an audit into the changes taking place under DeJoy.

“After initially denying these changes were happening, the Postal Service recently confirmed to staff that they were in fact occurring,” that letter said.

“These changes threaten the well-being of millions of Americans that rely on the Postal Service for delivery of Social Security checks, prescriptions, and everyday mail of all kinds — and they appear to pose a potential threat to mail-in ballots and the 2020 general election.”

Maloney has called for DeJoy to testify before her committee on Sept. 17. On Tuesday, she introduced a bill to prohibit the Postal Service from implementing any of the reported operational changes “until the COVID-19 pandemic has ended.”

In another letter sent Wednesday, she and Pelosi, along with 173 other House Democrats, again called for DeJoy to reverse his new policies.

DeJoy last week insisted that, “Although there will likely be an unprecedented increase in election mail volume due to the pandemic, the Postal Service has ample capacity to deliver all election mail securely and on-time in accordance with our delivery standards, and we will do so.”

He also denied that his “good relationship” with Trump was influencing his decisions.

“The notion that I would ever make decisions concerning the Postal Service at the direction of the President, or anyone else in the administration, is wholly off-base,” he said.

Trump praised DeJoy on Wednesday, while attacking the USPS for past mismanagement.

“The new man — who is a great person, a great businessman — he just got there a little while ago. The Post Office has been run poorly for many, many decades,” Trump said.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/13/trump-refuses-post-office-funding-as-part-of-fight-against-mail-in-voting.html