Postmaster General Backs Down, But Democrats Press For Answers And Assurances

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U.S. Postmaster General Louis Dejoy arrives for a meeting at the office of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi at the U.S. Capitol earlier this month.





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The postmaster general, who has been in his job since the spring, is a Republican fundraiser and supporter of President Trump, but he said on Tuesday that he wanted to freeze the service alterations he had ordered to avoid the appearance that he was attempting to interfere with the election.

The Postal Service can handle the work this election is expected to require, DeJoy vowed.

«The Postal Service is ready today to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives this fall, he said. «Even with the challenges of keeping our employees and customers safe and healthy as they operate amid a pandemic, we will deliver the nation’s election mail on time and within our well-established service standards.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, meanwhile, told reporters on Wednesday that DeJoy had initiated the changes within the Postal Service on his own, not after an instruction from the president.

The chief of staff observed that the agency has experienced declining volumes and financial difficulties for years and that the need to reform the Postal Service is clear.

«The business model for the postal system is not one that’s sustainable, Meadows said.

Some political figures argue the Postal Service should operate more like a private business; agency supporters argue that it was conceived as — and must remain — a «service.

Trump himself said on Tuesday that as far as he is concerned, the Postal Service «is running as well as it has in a long time.

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Trump has spent weeks raising doubts about the integrity of the election, focusing criticism on voting by mail.

Although he and others in his camp vote by mail themselves, the president has repeated unfounded claims about its susceptibility to fraud or foreign interference. Trump has made inaccurate claims about voting and elections for years, claims that a panel he appointed to investigate the issue could not substantiate.

Anecdotal reports from across the country about late or missed deliveries have grown lately, but it isn’t precisely clear from the Postal Service how its throughput locally or nationally might have been reduced.

Critics, however, have linked the changes within the Postal Service to Trump’s rhetoric and say the administration was caught red-handed trying to slow down mail service for its own political purposes.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez said as much to NPR on Monday, and on Tuesday, Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., argued that because so many Americans rely on the Postal Service, they would reject DeJoy’s program.

Hassan vowed that she would question DeJoy at the hearing on Friday about the broader issues she said are caused by service disruptions or reductions.

«The American people spoke out loudly and clearly against the Trump administration’s changes to the Postal Service. Granite Staters – especially those in rural communities – rely on USPS to get their medication and to run their small businesses, Hassan said.

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