The House Democratic-led Oversight Committee is calling on the postmaster general to testify at a hearing on operational and organizational changes, as well as alleged mail delays.
The panel is seeking to see whether President Donald Trump is attempting to use the agency as some states try to expand mail-in voting options during the November election. Trump has said that mail-in voting could be an avenue for election fraud.
The House Oversight and Reform Committee stated that it wants to hear from new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and from the chair of the Postal Service board of governors, Robert Duncan.
“Over the past several weeks, there have been startling new revelations about the scope and gravity of operational changes you are implementing at hundreds of postal facilities without consulting adequately with Congress, the Postal Regulatory Commission, or the Board of Governors,” Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) wrote. “Your testimony is particularly urgent given the troubling influx of reports of widespread delays at postal facilities across the country—as well as President Trumps explicit admission last week that he has been blocking critical coronavirus funding for the Postal Service in order to impair mail-in voting efforts for the upcoming elections in November.”
After weeks of negotiations on a broader COVID-19 relief bill ended in a stalemate, Trump said he would block $25 billion that was sought by the Postal Service, as well as a Democratic proposal to provide $3.6 billion in additional funding to states during the November election. Both requests have been tied up in congressional negotiations over a new COVID-19 relief package.
On Aug. 14, Trump told reporters that he would be willing to approve the funding if Democrats make concessions on the relief package, adding that he is refusing to give in to Democrats demands on other portions of the bill, such as providing up to $1 trillion in funding for state and city governments.
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