Pelosi Takes Action on USPS Drama

She calls House back early to vote on legislation
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 17, 2020 1:53 AM CDT
Updated Aug 17, 2020 6:43 AM CDT
Pelosi Takes Action on USPS Drama
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of Calif., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020.   (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

US representatives will see their summer recess cut short due to the ongoing US Postal Service drama. Nancy Pelosi announced Sunday she is calling the House back into session this week, Politico reports. Per the AP, a vote is expected Saturday to bar the Trump administration from making any changes at the USPS until next year. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Trump appointee who just took the position in June, has been implementing cutbacks that have slowed down delivery and led to a mail backlog amid the coronavirus pandemic, causing the Postal Service to warn nearly all the states that mail-in ballots may not arrive in time to be counted for the November election. Democrats have become increasingly worried Trump is purposely undermining the USPS to discourage mail-in voting, which he has long claimed would lead to election fraud.

"Alarmingly, across the nation, we see the devastating effects of the President’s campaign to sabotage the election by manipulating the Postal Service to disenfranchise voters," Pelosi said when announcing she would call lawmakers back to Washington, DC. "That is why I am calling upon the House to ... vote on [the] 'Delivering for America Act,' which prohibits the Postal Service from implementing any changes to operations or level of service it had in place on January 1, 2020." Chuck Schumer called on Senate leadership to similarly call back senators to vote on the legislation. Democratic lawmakers want DeJoy and other Postal Service leaders to testify at an emergency hearing this month, NBC News reports. Conservative websites, however, do not seem convinced; Gateway Pundit says liberals are "panicked" over a supposed "conspiracy" to sabotage the election, while Townhall references Pelosi's call for people to protest at post offices Tuesday a "PR stunt." (More US Postal Service stories.)

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