Reports of widespread postal delays and the possible threat to mail-in ballots in the presidential election have prompted at least 20 states to file suit against the new Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, and the Postal Service.
DeJoy apparently is feeling the pressure: on Tuesday he announced in a news release that the USPS will suspend operational changes that alarmed Democrats, including removing mail processing equipment and collection boxes, reports the Wall Street Journal.
“To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded,” DeJoy said.
He also said he will not change post office retail hours, close any mail-sorting facilities or curtail postal workers’ overtime hours until after Nov. 3.
President Trump enraged Democrats and some Republicans last week when he said he opposes an emergency bailout for the cash-strapped Postal Service because he does not want widespread voting by mail in the fall.
As for the states’ legal actions, the Washington Post writes:
“The suits, expected to be filed in federal court imminently, will argue that the Postal Service broke the law by making operational changes without first seeking approval from the Postal Regulatory Commission. They will also argue that the changes will impede states’ ability to run “free and fair elections,” officials from several state attorney general offices told The Washington Post.
“We’re trying to stop Trump’s attacks on the Postal Service, which we believe to be an attack on the integrity of election. It’s a straight up attack on democracy,” Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh (D) said in an interview. “This conduct is illegal, it’s unconstitutional, it’s harmful to the country, it’s harmful to individuals.”
The main lawsuit is led by Washington state; others joining in include Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin. All have Democratic attorneys general.
Like some other attorneys general, New York’s Letitia James announced Tuesday she plans a separate legal action.
“The integrity of our elections is fundamental to our nation’s democracy and we won’t allow anyone to undermine them, not even the president of the United States,” James wrote in a statement.
DeJoy is expected to testify Friday in the Senate and Monday in the House about the actions he’s taken since President Trump appointed him to head the USPS in June.
The House is expected to vote Saturday on legislation that would prohibit changes at the agency. The package will also include $25 billion to shore up the Postal Service, which faces continued financial losses, reports the Associated Press.
The Postal Service recently warned 46 states that it could not guarantee the delivery of ballots under their current deadlines.
But in his statement on Tuesday, DeJoy insisted that the USPS “is ready today to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives this fall,” adding that the agency will also “expand its task force on election mail and have additional resources on standby starting Oct. 1 in case there is unforeseen demand,” the Journal says.
