WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday admitted the stimulus package negotiations are being stalled with Congress over the funding of the United States Postal Service. The president wants to block an emergency infusion of funds to the Postal Service because he is saying, without any justification, mail-in ballots will create a fraudulent election this November.
Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kan.), a tribal citizen of the Ho-Chunk Nation, who represents Kansas’s 3rd Congressional District says Trump is purposely sabotaging the Postal Service to make it more difficult to vote.
She is calling for the firing of recently appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who is also a Trump campaign donor.
Davids says DeJoy has made a series of changes to the operation of the Postal Service that are predicted to cause serious problems and delays ahead of an election where more people are expected to vote by mail than ever before.
“The Postal Service is critical to our economy, our seniors and veterans who count on lifesaving medications, our small businesses that need to ship their products, and even to our democracy," Davids said.
DeJoy, who has been Postmaster General for only nine weeks, has moved swiftly to make sweeping changes to the Postal Service, which has already slowed down mail delivery. DeJoy has also axed overtime for mail carriers.
Last week, the Postal Service began removing mailboxes in neighborhoods that make it more convenient to mail items. In an internal memorandum last week, the Postal Service is set to remove 671 mail-sorting machines, which make up roughly 10 percent of the system’s inventory.
Davids, whose mother has worked at the Postal Service for the past 20 years, has long been a proponent of the USPS, one of the country’s oldest institutions.
"It also employs nearly half a million Americans, many of them veterans like my mom, who have risked their lives during this health crisis to make sure people all over the country have the supplies they need. I will not stand by while this President and his cronies try to tear apart this constitutionally-mandated and extremely popular institution piece by piece in order to serve their political agenda.
The American people have lost all faith in DeJoy’s ability to lead the Postal Service and he must be removed immediately. We need new, nonpartisan leadership so the Postal Service can continue to deliver for the people whose lives and livelihoods depend on it.”
Davids is correct about her concerns about slow mail delivery to veterans. Three years ago, the Veterans Administration began requiring prescription medications to be mailed to veterans. The recent changes have already resulted in slow delivery of medication to veterans.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says Americans need the Postal Service now more than ever.
“People need their medicines delivered," Schumer said. "Lots of people with preexisting conditions, lots of elderly people don't want to go out, they depend on the mails to give them vital stuff."
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