As revealed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has no intention in restoring blue mailboxes and sorting machines that were displaced as a result of President Trump’s gripe over mail-in ballot voting.
What We Know:
- DeJoy, an avid Trump supporter and known GOP donor, announced changes for the USPS due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s negative impact on the economy. Such changes would have been closing mail processing facilities, cut paychecks and overtime, removal of blue mailboxes from streets, all in effort to cut costs at least until after the general election.
- The Postmaster General’s words were met with opposition soon after going public with his plans. Democrats were one of the groups that had complaints and threats of lawsuits, DeJoy suggested Tuesday that the initiatives to suspend services and the plethora of other changes would be done to reduce the disruption of election mail.
“We will deliver the nation’s election mail on time,” DeJoy said in a statement.
- Pelosi expressed her blatant distrust of the Postmaster General in a statement on Wednesday in San Francisco. “If he’s sincere about it, it means the bully has backed off.” After speaking with DeJoy Wednesday morning, Pelosi explained that his reversal was not the answer, and the solution was rather misleading.
- In addition, she stated that 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.”
- Pelsoi made a note that with all these changes, it could jeopardize the election and in turn create a disproportionate representation among voters in communities of color. Aside from that, the negative effects of slowing the USPS’s services can effect everything as a whole from veterans, small businesses, and those depending on the USPS.
Mail-in ballots are still expected to be the main source of voting this election year and will proceed to flood the postal service as we grow nearer to November and as Americans opt-in voting by mail this time around.
