The House passed a $25 billion emergency infusion for the US Postal Service on Saturday. The bill would also undo the recent “cost-cutting” measures and ban any efforts to delay the mail until 2021, after Election Day according to Fox News. The vote is a unique rarity for the Congressional body, cutting the annual summer recess short after many Americans showed concerns for the USPS and the ongoing stimulus debate.
Some are saying that President Trump is attempting to use new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to scuttle the election by delaying mail-in ballots in November. “We are experiencing a global pandemic and now our U.S. Postal Service is under attack,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib said Saturday according to Fox News. “Let it be clear: This administration is waging an authoritarian campaign to sabotage this election by manipulating the postal service to suppress our votes … This is not a conspiracy theory. This is fascism. We will not stand for this.”
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Rep. Gerald Connolly of Virginia added that DeJoy is “a crony and major donor” of President Trump. He also holds conflicts of interest by owning stock in the USPS’ competitor, UPS. Many noted that the new Postmaster General’s efforts were an effort to “disrupt the timeliness” of the mail and plant doubt in the postal service ahead of an election where voting in person could be dangerous.
Twenty-six members of the Republican Party joined Democratic lawmakers in the vote, leaving 150 GOP members standing firm against the bill and accusations of vote tampering. “Like the Russia hoax and impeachment sham, the Democrats have manufactured another scandal for political purposes,” Rep. James Comer said about the vote and claims against Trump.
While the legislation does draw lines in the sand and may give confidence to the public, it likely won’t move forward after this vote due to GOP control of the Senate and the threat of a veto from President Trump.
“Vote NO to the Pelosi/ Schumer money wasting HOAX which is taking place now,” he tweeted. “Then fight the $51 million unasked for Ballots. Only ABSENTEE BALLOTS are acceptable!” Absentee ballots and mail-in voting ballots are the same things according to several sources at this point.
Postmaster General Dejoy testified in front of the Senate on Friday and is scheduled to testify for the House on Monday. The testimony followed him suspending his “cost-cutting” measures on Tuesday after outrage and protests from citizens.
While DeJoy and the GOP deny that anything underhanded is going on, blue mailboxes going missing and sorting machines being dismantled have created an evident decline according to Democrats. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, head of the House Oversight Committee, showed an internal Postal Service document on the House floor before the vote, showing a dip in service since DeJoy’s changes went into effect.
“To those who still claim there are ‘no delays’ and that these reports are just ‘conspiracy theories,’ I hope this new data causes them to re-think their position and support our urgent legislation today,” she said.
