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TOP LINE
After several Democratic officials announced this week that they would investigate the legality of President Trump’s decision to deny US Postal Service funding for mail-in voting, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic leaders are would have consider returning from recess in August as early as next week to explore legislation dealing with the crisis that has enveloped the USPS.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) speaks with reporters during a press conference in the United States … [+]
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HIGHLIGHTS
The House of Representatives is currently in recess, with no vote scheduled until the week of September 14; however, top Democrats held a emergency call to management Saturday to discuss the possibility of returning earlier.
“Yes, there are discussions to bring back the House to deal with the Postal Service crisis. The timing (is) not clear yet. Next week and the week after (are) being discussed,” a Democratic aide told CNN.
According to PoliticsDemocrats have no plans to provide additional funding to the Postal Service at this time, but instead aim to immediately address organizational issues within the USPS.
Earlier this week, Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney (DN.Y.) introduced a bill that would bar the USPS from completing implementation of a proposed organizational overhaul, which the House could revisit. to vote.
Other possible measures by Democrats could would have including preventing the decommissioning of high-speed mail sorting machines and the removal of official USPS mailboxes, in addition to restoring overtime pay for postal workers.
Friday, the Washington Post reported that the USPS sent letters in July to 46 states warning that their election deadlines could cause mail-in ballots to be delivered too late to be counted.
Critical quote:
“The president has made it clear that he will manipulate the operations of the Post Office to deny eligible voters the right to vote in pursuit of his own re-election,” said Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. said in a joint statement Friday. “The president’s own words confirm this: he has to cheat to win.”
Key context:
As Election Day approaches, the national debate over the potential expansion of mail-in voting in the 2020 presidential election has intensified, bringing more focus to USPS issues. Louis DeJoy, a Republican fundraiser who has contributed more than $1.2 million to the Trump Victory Fund, was named the country’s new postmaster general last month. DeJoy immediately announced an “operational hub” within the Postal Service, which included elimination of overtime for hundreds of thousands of employees and required mail that arrived late to be left by carriers and delivered the next day. On Thursday, Trump, who claimed mail-in voting would lead to voter fraud despite a lack of concrete evidence, apparently acknowledged he was suspending a stimulus deal over Democratic demands for USPS funding, saying Democrats “need that money to run the post office so it can take all those millions and millions of ballots.” Asset added that such action “means you can’t have universal mail voting because they’re not equipped to have it”. Connecticut Attorney General William Tong accused Trump of trying to hijack the election, tweet friday that he is “actively engaged in discussions with attorneys general across the country to mount a vigorous defense of our Postal Service and the legitimacy of our election.” Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs on Friday asked the state’s attorney general to investigate whether recent changes to the USPS, in conjunction with Trump’s comments on funding the service postal, violate an Arizona law that makes it a crime”knowingly delay delivery of a ballot. That same day, Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (DN.J.) made a criminal referral to the New Jersey Attorney General, asking him to constitute a grand jury to investigate “the subversion of election laws by Donald Trump, Louis DeJoy and other Trump officials in their expedited arson of the post office.”
Large number :
$25 billion: This is the amount House Democrats included for the USPS in their coronavirus bill in May, as well as $3.6 billion in additional funding for election security.
Further reading
Postal Service warns mail-in ballots in 46 states may not be delivered on time (Forbes)
Democrats investigate whether Trump and DeJoy broke laws with USPS actions (Forbes)
House committee calls for hearing with new postmaster general to address mail delays (Forbes)
