Members of the House have passed a bill that allocates $25 billion to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and puts a freeze on operational changes at the agency that have been the subject of heated controversy, with Democrats arguing they have slowed mail delivery and are part of the Trump administration's bid to undermine mail-in balloting ahead of November's election.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a tweet ahead of the vote that the bill was necessary to “reject the Trump administration’s efforts to undermine the critical mission of the postal service.” Then, speaking on the floor, she said she hoped for a bipartisan vote to "reverse the Trump damage and provide $25 billion to the United States Postal Service."
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Penn.), the only Republican to co-sponsor the bill, said on the floor that he would vote for the bill, calling for cross-aisle unity to "address serious challenges USPS has been facing for quite some time now."
While the House was deliberating ahead of the vote, President Donald Trump encouraged lawmakers to reject the bill, saying, "This is all another HOAX by the Democrats to give 25 Billion unneeded dollars for political purposes, without talking about the Universal Mail-In Ballot Scam that they are trying to pull off in violation of everything that our Country stands for."
Calling the postal service a "crucial link in the chain of custody between voters and state or local election boards," Comer moved to recommit the bill with an amendment that would limit the new funding to operating expenses for postal staff salaries and protective equipment, and impose penalties on postal workers who tamper or interfere with election mail.
The motion to recommit failed ahead of the final passage of the bill.
The White House on Friday came out in strong opposition to the legislation, with the Office of Management and Budget saying if the legislation reaches the president's desk, it would recommend a veto.
The Democrat bill, which was sponsored by Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), calls for a range of actions including putting a freeze on any decommissioning of sorting machines, prohibiting reduction of post office hours and overtime, and "any change in the nature of postal services which will generally affect service on a nationwide or substantially nationwide basis." The freeze would be in effect until the end of the CCP virus pandemic or until Jan. 31, whichever comes first.
"As a result, there is no reason to suspect that USPS, which handled an average of 2.7 billion pieces of mail per week in 2019, will have any difficulty handling mail volume associated with the 2020 election unless Congress puts in place new requirements that make this important work more difficult," the statement reads, arguing further that the measure would “impose burdensome new requirements on USPS that would make it even harder for USPS to deliver election mail.”
Democrats have accused Trump of trying to squeeze USPS operations to suppress mail-in voting in November's election, with the president being a vocal critic of vote-by-mail arrangements, arguing they are prone to fraud.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has said that the USPS is in a financially untenable position, but he maintains it can handle this year’s election mail.
DeJoy has introduced changes at the Postal Service, including cutting overtime and halting late delivery trips that are sometimes needed to ensure mail arrives on time, arguing they are needed to return the agency to financial and operational viability.
Democrats have blasted the changes, alleging that DeJoy's cost-cutting initiatives and other changes might create problems during Election Day, as some states have unveiled plans to expand absentee ballots and mail-in voting in a bid to curb the spread of the CCP virus.
Following the outcry, DeJoy announced that he would put a freeze on some of the operational changes to the USPS until the election is over.
In its statement, the White House criticized the bill as “an overreaction to sensationalized media reports that have made evidence-free accusations that USPS has undertaken reforms to achieve political rather than operational objectives.”
DeJoy is scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Monday.