“I am shocked that we have to save the Post Office from the attacks of an American President,” said Congressman Donald M. Payne, Jr. “There are residents in my district who haven’t received mail for weeks simply because President Trump thinks effective mail service threatens his re-election chances. The Post Office is one of America’s most trusted institutions. Support for the Postal Service should never be a political issue. But President Trump has made it one and now we must fight to protect it at all costs. I hope this bill is passed in the Senate and President Trump’s Republican allies help him to see common sense and sign it into law.”
Other than increased funding for the Postal Service, the bill (H.R. 8015) would halt Post Office closures or consolidations, stop the reduction of hours at postal locations, ensure that employees receive overtime pay for overtime hours, and return postal service to the level Americans experienced on January 1, 2020, before the coronavirus public health crisis crippled the nation.
It is the latest action in Rep. Payne, Jr’s battle to save the Post Office from President Trump’s attempts to defund it. In the last two weeks, Rep. Payne, Jr. has written or co-signed five letters to House leadership, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, and others to provide funds for the Postal Service in the next coronavirus bill and improve service to all Americans during this global pandemic. In addition, he toured three local Post Offices in Newark, Orange and Union to discuss postal issues with local managers and carriers.
The bill comes after the Trump Administration stated that it would like to limit the effectiveness of postal service to create distrust for mail-in ballots. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who took office on June 15, 2020, issued a series of changes that have affected mail delivery nationwide. Recently, DeJoy slowed delivery when he dismantled 19 mail sorting machines that could have sorted 35,000 pieces of mail per hour at locations across the country, a move that could prompt a criminal investigation. Previously, he caused further delays in mail delivery when he refused to pay carriers overtime for any deliveries after an eight-hour shift. A second memo reassigned 23 executives to give DeJoy unprecedented power to control the Post Office.