USPS Suspends Changes as Postmaster General Faces Lawsuits and Outrage

GOP Sen. Rob Portman and other Republicans in Ohio’s congressional delegation urged DeJoy to “ensure timely and accurate delivery of election-related materials”.

Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, welcomed DeJoy’s decision but said the Postal Service needs Covid-related financial relief.

“It’s time for Congress to deliver,” he said.

Pelosi is gaining GOP support for Saturday’s vote, according to two Republican aides granted anonymity to discuss the situation.

She is calling lawmakers back to Washington for the “Delivering for America Act”, which would prohibit the Postal Service from implementing any changes to operations or the level of service it had in place on January 1.

The package would include the $25 billion the House has already approved as part of the Covid-19 rescue that is stalled in the Senate.

Democrats held events in cities nationwide, some pressuring Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to resume session.

One protest was in Atlanta, where vulnerable GOP Sen. David Perdue faces a tough reelection.

McConnell, though, is unlikely to change the Senate schedule. In Kentucky, he said he viewed the postal legislation as an opportunity to resume talks over a broader Covid-19 relief bill.

“I don’t think we’ll pass, in the Senate, a postal-only bill,” he told the Courier-Journal in an interview.

Ahead of the election, DeJoy, a former supply-chain CEO who took over the Postal Service in June, has sparked nationwide outcry over delays, new prices and cutbacks that could imperil not only voting, but what some call a lifeline for receiving mail prescriptions and other goods during the Covid-19 crisis.

Trump has defended DeJoy, but also criticized postal operations and claimed that universal mail-in ballots would be “a disaster”.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told reporters that Trump “at no time" has pushed for a mail slowdown.

“This president believes that the American people, casting their ballot, one at a time, will ultimately make sure that he’s the one elected," he said.

The Postal Service is among the nation’s oldest and more popular institutions.