Pelosi Not Satisfied After Speaking to Postmaster General About Halting Changes to USPS

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks at a press conference in Washington on July 29, 2020. Erin Scott/Reuters

Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she is not satisfied after speaking to the Post Master General about reversing changes already made to the USPS before his Tuesday statement.

Pelosi issued a statement after speaking to Postmaster General DeJoy about his pause in operational changes that the Speaker alleges are delaying the mail and threatening to disenfranchise voters.

“This morning, I spoke with Postmaster General DeJoy and conveyed to him that his announcement is not a solution and is misleading,” said Pelosi.

On Tuesday DeJoy said in a statement, “To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded.”

“The Postmaster General’s alleged pause is wholly insufficient and does not reverse damage already wreaked.  The Postmaster General frankly admitted that he had no intention of replacing the sorting machines, blue mailboxes, and other key mail infrastructure that have been removed and that plans for adequate overtime, which is critical for the timely delivery of mail, are not in the works,” Pelosi continued.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) criticized Pelosi and Democrats for falsifying information about USPS in a statement Wednesday.

“Shamefully, Democrats also fueled conspiracy theories about mailboxes being moved en masse, a lie spread by Joe Biden. The Postal Service regularly removes mailboxes for lack of use and relocates them in ‘growth areas.’ In fact, from 2011–2016, the Obama-Biden administration removed roughly 14,000 mailboxes according to the USPS Inspector General,” McCarthy said.

Pelosi said the changes that DeJoy is unwilling to reverse will cause voter suppression.

“All of these changes directly jeopardize the election and disproportionately threaten to disenfranchise voters in communities of color.  At the same time, we are highly concerned that the slowdown of the delivery of medicines to veterans is not being sufficiently addressed,” she added.

“You can find valid operational reasons for the actions taken by the Postal Service so far,” Mike Plunkett, another longtime USPS executive who now leads the Association for Postal Commerce told The Wall Street Journal. “In no way do I detect any criminality behind them, and I’m at a loss as to how one would reach that conclusion.”

Pelosi said that Democrats will be the ones to deliver for the American People by passing the Delivering for America Act (pdf), which will provide $25 billion in support of the Postal Service.

McCarthy said, “Contrary to Democrats’ claims, the Postal Service is also properly funded for the election and beyond. It is not being ’sabotaged.'” Under the USPS’s own analysis (pdf), the USPS is financially solvent through at least August 2021.

In his Tuesday statement, DeJoy also said retail hours at Post Offices will not change; mail processing equipment and blue collection boxes will remain where they are; No mail processing facilities will be closed and we reassert that overtime has, and will continue to be, approved as needed.

The Treasury has authorized $10 billion for the USPS and administration officials including White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows said the administration is open to further funding for USPS if it a part of a large CCP virus relief package.

Despite the administration’s efforts to fund the USPS, Pelosi slammed the President for what she called his effort to have the American public choose between voting and their health.