TOPLINE
House leaders are calling on Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to testify on Aug. 24 – nearly a month earlier than his scheduled testimony – as Democrats allege President Trump and his appointees have fought to weaken the postal service to upend mail-in voting ahead of the election.
WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 05: U.S. Postmaster General Louis Dejoy arrives at a meeting at the office ... [+]
KEY FACTS
DeJoy, a Republican megadonor who has contributed more than $1.2 million to Trump’s reelection bid, had initially been asked by Oversight Committee Chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) to testify on Sept. 17 about an “operational pivot” within the USPS, including eliminating overtime pay for many workers and abandoning late-arriving mail.
Democrats in Congress also sent a letter to DeJoy on Friday demanding clarity about new policies at the USPS after Trump admitted to blocking $25 billion in funding because it would include $3.6 billion for mail-in voting, which he has long railed against.
But with the USPS warning 46 states about strict deadlines potentially leading to many uncounted ballots, and the removal of mailboxes and mail sorting machines, Democrats are speeding up their oversight of the chaos that has gripped the Postal Service.
Maloney, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen Gary Peters (D-Mich.) sent letters to DeJoy and USPS Board of Governors Chair Robert Duncan asking them to testify at an “urgent hearing” to examine the USPS’s operational changes at 10:00 am EST on Aug. 24.
The four lawmakers point to “startling new revelations” about the scale of the changes, and in particular a “troubling influx of reports of widespread delays at postal facilities across the country,” as well as Trump’s admission about blocking USPS funding, as the reason for the hastened timeline.
Key Background
A logistics executive, DeJoy was confirmed to the post by the USPS board of governors in May and has since become a controversial figure. Protestors gathered outside DeJoy’s D.C. residence on Saturday demanding a reversal of his changes.
Crucial Quote
“The postmaster general and top Postal Service leadership must answer to the Congress and the American people as to why they are pushing these dangerous new policies that threaten to silence the voices of millions, just months before the election,” the lawmakers said in a statement announcing the hearing.
Chief Critic
Most Democrats have pointed to the changes at the USPS as a partisan effort to suppress mail-in votes ahead of the election in November. “Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's main qualification for the job was his donation to the Trump campaign,” tweeted Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in July. “We can't let Trump turn the USPS into a political pawn run by a partisan cheerleader—especially as we're staring down an election in which millions could vote by mail.”
