House Democrats to vote to give postal service a $ 25 billion boost

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The bill is still being finalized, Main Democrats told members during a caucus call, but it will incorporate a version of Representative Carolyn Maloney’s Delivering for America law that would ban recent operational changes from the USPS that the Trump administration brought in that slowed down courier service. the country.

The bill will also include Democrats’ initial request for $ 25 billion in funding for the postal service, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told MPs the final bill will likely roll off committee on Tuesday.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee also announced on Monday afternoon that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy would testify next week amid accusations that the Trump administration was deliberately obstructing the Postal Service in an effort to prevent the postal voting during the pandemic.

Pelosi announced over the weekend that she would recall the chamber from its August session to consider emergency legislation to stop service changes made under DeJoy. The House had previously planned to return for votes in mid-September.

Democrats accused the new policies of blocking postal voting ahead of the November election. DeJoy, an ally and donor to President Donald Trump, denied the allegations, saying the changes are aimed at saving money in a dire financial situation at the USPS.

“The postal service is a pillar of our democracy, enshrined in the Constitution and essential for providing essential services: issuing prescriptions, social security benefits, paychecks, tax returns and postal ballots to millions of Americans, including in our most remote communities, ”Pelosi said in a letter to members. “Alarmingly, across the country we are seeing the devastating effects of the President’s campaign to sabotage the election by manipulating the postal service to deny voters their rights.”

Although the USPS has repeatedly tried to reassure voters that it can handle the influx of ballots in the mail, in the newly issued letters, the USPS has warned nearly all states that Slows in delivery could result in late ballots and not be counted.
Democrats initially sought to include USPS funding as part of a broader coronavirus stimulus package, but negotiations between Congressional Democrats and the White House for such a bill failed. Trump has explicitly linked his resistance to including the additional $ 25 billion – an amount requested by the Postal Service’s Board of Governors – to prevent the USPS from handling an upsurge in mail-in ballots.
McConnell says he doesn't share Trump's 'concern' about postal service

In since stalled negotiations with Democrats over the broader coronavirus relief plan, the White House has reached a tentative deal on $ 10 billion for the postal service, according to those involved in the negotiations. But administration officials are opposed to a USPS-specific bill like the one Democrats are set to propose – and said any operational changes made by the Postmaster General were made with the sole thought of to the finances of the postal service.

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows on Monday called for USPS funding to be encompassed to some extent alongside other elements of the relief talks that both sides agree on, including provisions like another round of direct payments to Americans.

“We would sign that,” he said.

Meadows said Democrats are unlikely to accept this approach, arguing that they will use the USPS bill “as a political tool instead of a legislative tool.”

“The president is very clear that he is ready to provide money for the post office as long as it is included in some other minimal measure if we cannot agree on a bigger deal,” Meadows told the journalists.

CNN’s Sarah Westwood and Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.

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