USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced on Tuesday that he will suspend certain changes at the US Postal Service (USPS) until after the 2020 election.
In a statement, USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy pointed out that he is temporarily suspending “some longstanding operational initiatives” that “predate my arrival at the Postal Service.”
He said that the reason behind this decision is to “avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail.”
His cost-cutting policies at USPS have raised concerns about widespread delays, which may affect voting in November. While he did not mention specific initiatives that will be halted, he presented several assurances.
He said that retail hours at post offices will remain the same, mail processing facilities will not shut down and that mail processing equipment will not be moved. He added that “overtime has, and will continue to be, approved as needed.”
Reelection
DeJoy is known as a donor to Republicans and committees backing the reelection of President Donald Trump, who claimed that massive levels of voter fraud may happen if mail-in voting takes place.
The overhaul of the USPS has caused significant delays in mail deliveries, according to mail workers’ advocates and other figures.
DeJoy’s statement does not make clearly clarify if the machines that have already been removed will be used again.
“I came to the Postal Service to make changes to secure the success of this organization and its long-term sustainability,” DeJoy said on Tuesday. “I believe significant reforms are essential to that objective, and work toward those reforms will commence after the election.”
“In the meantime, there are some longstanding operational initiatives — efforts that predate my arrival at the Postal Service — that have been raised as areas of concern as the nation prepares to hold an election in the midst of a devastating pandemic,” he said. “To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded.”
According to his statement, the agency will add “standby resources in all areas of our operations” in October to better handle “any unforeseen demand.” An existing task force on election mail will also recruit more people.
In response to DeJoy's statement, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said on Twitter that “we need to keep our eyes on DeJoy so he keeps his promise & doesn’t find new ways to dismantle the USPS.”
DeJoy will attend a hearing before the majority-GOP Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Friday and the Democrat-led House Oversight Committee on Monday.
Amazon
Meanwhile, Trump blames Amazon over the issues at the US Postal Service. He also said that delivery rates must increase to offset delivery costs.
“Amazon and other companies like it, they come and they drop all of their mail into a post office,” Trump told “Fox & Friends.” “They drop packages into the post office by the thousands and then they say, ‘Here, you deliver them.’ We lose $3 and $4 a package on average. We lose massive amounts of money.”
There have been concerns that the White House has been interfering with the post office in order to influence the voting process in the November presidential election.
The Postal Service has eradicated hundreds of mail-processing machines across the country and told dozens of states that it is not capable of processing mail-in ballots in time to be counted in the Nov. 3 presidential election.
