Facing an outcry over his operational changes to the U.S. Postal Services and questions about the political implications of those changes, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Tuesday said he would halt the initiatives until after the election.
"To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded," DeJoy said in a statement.
DeJoy said that the Postal Service “is ready today to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives this fall.” He added that retail hours at post offices will not change, mail processing equipment and collection boxes will remain where they are and no mail processing facilities will be closed.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the pause isn’t enough. “This pause only halts a limited number of the Postmaster’s changes, does not reverse damage already done, and alone is not enough to ensure voters will not be disenfranchised by the President this fall,” she said in a statement.
DeJoy is set to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Friday and before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Monday.
