House Approves Bill That Blocks Changes At Postal Service Until After The Election

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The House passed legislation Saturday to provide $25 billion to the Postal Service to help safeguard voting by mail ahead of the November election.

Nati Harnik/AP

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Nati Harnik/AP

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Republicans pushed back on the legislation and its $25 billion price tag, calling recent changes at the Postal Service routine and accusing Democrats of promoting a conspiracy theory that President Trump is seeking to hinder mail delivery to win the election.

«As a majority, Democrats have been more focused on distraction than solutions for the American people, said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. «From the weakness, most partisan impeachment in American history, to politicizing the pandemic and stopping relief for workers and families and now spreading a debunked conspiracy theory about a Postal Service … Democrats have failed the American public.

Democrats countered by pointing to recent remarks by President Trump in which he appeared to suggest he opposed funding for the Postal Service because he wanted to make it harder to expand vote by mail. He later walked the statement back.

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform also made public documents on Saturday that Democrats said show a decline in mail service going back to July.

During Senate testimony on Friday, DeJoy acknowledged a «dip in service but said recent changes — including the removal of roughly 700 mailboxes — would not affect the election.

DeJoy, a Republican fundraiser who was appointed in May, told lawmakers that the president has had no input on any changes he has made and he maintained that the Postal Service will be able to handle mail-in ballots.

«There has been no changes in any policies with regard to the election mail for the 2020 election, he said.

Earlier this week, DeJoy said he would suspend his controversial changes at the Postal Service until after the election, but in his testimony on Friday, he painted a bleak outlook for the Postal Service’s long-term viability. He said reliable postal service to the public is at «fundamental risk because of the service’s financial losses, which could swell to $11 billion this year, according to DeJoy.

«Changes must be made to ensure our sustainability for the years and decades ahead, he said.