USPS Crisis Brews as Trump's Quest to Win November Election Heats Up

WASHINGTON, KOMPAS.com – The USPS has found a new foe in President Donald Trump as the lead-up to the November election heats up with the US President eager to win re-election.

The United States Postal Service, or popularly known as USPS, is known to deliver mail no matter the weather conditions.

However, it has been caught in the middle of a political contest during a historical period with the coronavirus pandemic.

Read also: Trump Blocking Postal Service in Hopes of Winning November Election

Millions of American voters are expected to cast their ballots by mail to avoid contracting the Covid-19 virus.

Ahead of the November 3 election, President Donald Trump has launched an offensive at the USPS by withholding funds as part of a big coronavirus rescue package.

The cash-strapped agency needs more money and changes at USPS have caused delays in mail delivery.

"They need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots," Trump told Fox News on Thursday, adding, "But if they don't get those... that means you can't have universal mail-in voting."

With some states expanding mail-in options because of the pandemic, an estimated three-quarters of Americans will be able to vote from home this fall.

Increased mail-in voting, Republican Trump said Saturday, would be a "catastrophe" — an assertion contested by many election experts.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday said she would recall the House of Representatives from its summer recess to vote this week on an act "to save the Postal Service".

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Pelosi and fellow senior Democrat Chuck Schumer also called for Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a recent Trump appointee, to appear before an "urgent hearing" of the House oversight committee.

They said that DeJoy — "a Trump mega-donor — has acted as an accomplice in the president’s campaign to cheat in the election, as he launches sweeping new operational changes that degrade delivery standards."

"This is a crisis for American democracy," progressive senator Bernie Sanders said on ABC's "This Week".