Without actually admitting that anything was going on to interfere with voting by mail in the upcoming November election, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy issued a statement Tuesday afternoon saying that the agency is putting a halt to all of the measures he put into place that have slowed the mail and threatened to cripple the postal service’s ability to handle a flood of mail-in ballots for the November election.
A furor erupted when it was discovered that changes ordered by DeJoy have resulted in delays in mail delivery around the country with first class and other classes of mail including packages being left to pile up for days at a time in mail-sorting centers.
There were allegations that DeJoy and President Trump were working to sabotage the U.S. Postal Service in advance of the November election.
High-speed sorting machines had already been removed from service at some postal sectional centers, with plans existing for between 500 and 800 of the machines to be removed nationally according to a Business Journal source.
A USPS spokesman responded to inquiries from the Business Journal seeking details of possible impacts from DeJoy’s orders on operations at the sectional center on Westchester Avenue in White Plains that handles mail for Westchester and other counties in the lower Hudson Valley by saying, “To ensure the public receives consistent and accurate information, we are currently deferring any questions and relying solely on the Postmaster General”™s Aug 18th statement.”
DeJoy, a Trump supporter, has been a major Republican donor, a former deputy Republican National Committee finance chair and a local finance chair for the 2020 Republican National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. He became postmaster general in June.
In an interview on Fox Business News last week, Trump admitted that he was stalling relief funding for the USPS because “they need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots.”
“The Postal Service is ready today to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives this fall. Even with the challenges of keeping our employees and customers safe and healthy as they operate amid a pandemic, we will deliver the nation”™s election mail on time and within our well-established service standards,” DeJoy said.
In his statement, DeJoy said he was expanding a task force on election mail to better work with state and local election officials. He said postal unions have agreed to join the task force.
DeJoy pledged to roll back changes he ordered so that:
- Retail hours at post offices will not change;
- Mail processing equipment and blue mail collection boxes will remain where they are;
- No mail processing facilities will be closed; and
- Overtime has, and will continue to be, approved as needed.
“In addition, effective Oct. 1, we will engage standby resources in all areas of our operations, including transportation, to satisfy any unforeseen demand,” DeJoy said.
“I am grateful for the commitment and dedication of all the men and women of the Postal Service, and the trust they earn from the American public every day, especially as we continue to contend with the impacts of Covid-19. As we move forward, they will have the full support of our organization throughout the election,” DeJoy’s statement concluded.
DeJoy was scheduled to testify before the Republican-controlled Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Aug. 21 and the Democrat-controlled House Oversight Committee on Aug. 24.
The Post Office has been dysfunctional for years and started losing Billions every year about 15 years ago.
Its called Snail Mail for a reason so why would anyone rely on it for a Presidential election?