More than a dozen U.S. states set to sue Trump administration for postal cuts

(Reuters) – More than a dozen states as of this week are expected to sue the Trump administration over cuts to the United States postal service that they say could delay postal votes in the November election, said Monday Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh. .

Frosh said that between 15 and 20 Democratic attorneys general are reviewing the legal arguments and that he expects the states involved to join one or more prosecutions.

“We are in discussions with other AG offices and plan to take action soon,” Frosh said.

Republican Trump, who trails suspected Democratic candidate Joe Biden in opinion polls, said last week he was against Democratic efforts to include funds for the postal service and electoral infrastructure in legislation on coronavirus relief because he wanted to limit postal voting during the pandemic. By some estimates, twice as many people could vote by mail than in 2016 due to the pandemic.

Democrats cited reduced overtime, restrictions on additional mail-haul travel, and new mail sorting and delivery policies as changes that threaten to slow mail delivery of ballots and others. critical mails such as drugs.

Trump denied Monday that he attempted to undermine the Postal Service’s ability to handle mail-in ballots.

“No, we are not trafficking,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News. “We want to make it work for less money, much better, always taking care of our postal workers.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, a Republican, has asked Trump to postpone operational changes after the Nov. 3 election. The post office is a “permanent drain on the treasury,” he said in a letter. “But making sweeping changes just weeks before early voting begins – even if it is financially sound – would put the post’s creditworthiness above the legitimacy of the government itself.

It is not known if Yost would join a lawsuit.

Frosh said that in Maryland, the service pulled six sorting machines.

“They pulled four in one place,” in the Democratic stronghold of Baltimore City, he said.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in an interview that it would be unconstitutional to physically prohibit someone from voting or block roads so people cannot get to polling stations.

“Likewise, it is illegal to intentionally suspend the postal service or dismantle nearly 700 mail sorting machines in major cities across the country or remove the blue letterboxes, which we have heard about,” Tong said.

Tong said he had gathered evidence of problems with Connecticut mail delivery and that the office had been “inundated with complaints” about delays.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement Monday that she plans to continue the cuts and called Trump’s attempt to “interfere” with postal operations as an “authoritarian takeover.”

The Democratic-led House of Representatives will meet on Saturday to consider legislation banning changes to postal service levels that were in place on January 1, 2020.

On Monday, the Trump-appointed Postmaster General agreed to testify before Congress next week on service cuts.