{"id":12433,"date":"2020-08-19T19:03:49","date_gmt":"2020-08-19T19:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/08\/19\/postal-service-halts-some-changes-amid-outcry-lawsuits\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T04:22:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:22:51","slug":"postal-service-halts-some-changes-amid-outcry-lawsuits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/2020\/08\/19\/postal-service-halts-some-changes-amid-outcry-lawsuits\/","title":{"rendered":"Postal Service halts some changes amid outcry, lawsuits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 Facing mounting public pressure and a crush of state lawsuits, President Donald Trump\u2019s new postmaster general says he is halting some operational changes to mail delivery that critics blame for widespread delays and warn could disrupt the November election. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said Tuesday he would \u201csuspend\u201d several of his initiatives<\/a> \u2014 including the removal of the distinctive blue mailboxes<\/a> that prompted an outcry \u2014 until after the election \u201cto avoid even the appearance of impact on election mail.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will deliver the nation\u2019s election mail on time,\u201d DeJoy said in a statement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The abrupt reversal from DeJoy, who is set to testify Friday before the Senate, comes as more than 20 states, from New York to California, announced they would be suing to stop the changes<\/a>. Several vowed they would press on, keeping a watchful eye on the Postal Service ahead of the election. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is pushing ahead with Saturday\u2019s vote to prevent election-year mail changes and provide emergency postal funds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t, frankly, trust the postmaster general,\u201d Pelosi said in San Francisco. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crisis at the Postal Service has erupted as a major election year issue as DeJoy, a Republican donor who took control of the agency in June, has swiftly engineered cuts and operational changes that are disrupting mail delivery operations and raising alarms that Trump is trying to undermine the agency<\/a> ahead of the election. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the White House, Trump has flatly denied he is seeking to slow down the mail, even as he leveled fresh assaults Tuesday on mail-in voting and universal ballots. More Americans than ever are expected to choose to vote absentee during the coronavirus outbreak. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t have millions and millions of ballots sent all over the place, sent to people that are dead, sent to dogs, cats, sent everywhere,\u201d Trump told reporters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t games and you have to get it right,\u201d Trump said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A mail truck moves down a street Aug. 18, 2020, in Fox Point, Wis. (Morry Gash\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Some of the initiatives DeJoy said he was shelving until after the election had already been announced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

DeJoy said Tuesday he is halting the planned removal of mail-processing machines and blue collection boxes, as well as an initiative to change retail hours at post offices. He also said no mail processing facilities will be closed and said the agency has not eliminated overtime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One initiative that DeJoy didn\u2019t single out in his announcement was the newly imposed constraints on when mail can go out for delivery \u2014 a change postal workers have said is fueling delays. The statement also did not specify whether the agency would restore mail-sorting machines that have recently been taken offline. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Postal Service spokesman declined to comment beyond DeJoy\u2019s statement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s going on right now is nothing less than a full-on assault by this administration on the U.S. Postal Service, an institution that millions of Americans rely on every single day,\u201d said Bob Ferguson, the attorney general in Washington state, at a news conference. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ferguson and Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced they were leading collections of other states in suing to block service changes at the Postal Service, just as the postmaster was making his own statement Tuesday. Both Shapiro and Ferguson said they would not take DeJoy at his word. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to see binding action to reverse these changes,\u201d Shapiro said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump made clear last week that he was blocking $25 billion in emergency aid to the Postal Service, acknowledging he wanted to curtail election mail operations, as well as a Democratic proposal to provide $3.6 billion in additional election money to the states to help process an expected surge of mail-in ballots. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Republicans are now sounding the alarm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the pivotal swing state of Ohio, Attorney General Dave Yost pleaded with Trump to postpone any needed changes to the Postal Service until after Election Day. GOP Sen. Rob Portman and other Republicans in Ohio\u2019s congressional delegation urged DeJoy to \u201censure timely and accurate delivery of election-related materials.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, welcomed DeJoy\u2019s decision but said the Postal Service needs COVID-related financial relief. \u201cIt\u2019s time for Congress to deliver,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pelosi is gaining GOP support for Saturday\u2019s vote, according to two Republican aides granted anonymity to discuss the situation. She is calling lawmakers back to Washington for the \u201cDelivering for America Act,\u201d which would prohibit the Postal Service from implementing any changes to operations or the level of service it had in place on Jan. 1. The package would include the $25 billion the House has already approved as part of the COVID-19 rescue that is stalled in the Senate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democrats held events in cities nationwide, some pressuring Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to resume session. One protest was in Atlanta, where vulnerable GOP Sen. David Perdue faces a tough reelection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

McConnell, though, is unlikely to change the Senate schedule. In Kentucky, he said he viewed the postal legislation as an opportunity to resume talks over a broader COVID-19 relief bill. \u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019ll pass, in the Senate, a postal-only bill,\u201d he told the Courier-Journal in an interview. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahead of the election, DeJoy, a former supply-chain CEO who took over the Postal Service in June, has sparked nationwide outcry over delays, new prices and cutbacks that could imperil not only voting, but what some call a lifeline for receiving mail prescriptions and other goods during the COVID-19 crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\t