Postmaster general suspends postal service changes amid presidential election fears
WASHINGTON (ABC7) — Elected Democrats from all over the DC area vowed Tuesday to continue with their plans to pass legislation aimed at improving mail delivery, despite an announcement by the Postmaster general that he would halt changes that have caused recent controversy.
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"Good development, but it will not change what we intend to do," said U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D - MD 5th District) at a previously scheduled press conference held shortly after Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's announcement.
At the press conference, which was held outside U.S. Postal Service headquarters at L'Enfant Plaza, local Democrats vowed to continue with a session U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi called for this weekend.
"I'm glad that they're backing off [from] making these changes, but you'll forgive me for being a little bit skeptical," said U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D- VA 10th District). "So we're still going to return to Washington on Saturday. We're still going to pass this legislation."
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Democrats have accused the president and DeJoy, who started in June, of trying to slow down the mail to sabotage mail-in ballots for the upcoming election, something the two deny.
"The Democrats want to make it a political issue. It's not a political issue," President Trump said at a White House event Tuesday. "It's really about a correct vote. You have to get voting right. You can't have millions and millions of ballots sent all over the place, sent to people that are dead, sent to dogs, cats, sent everywhere, this is a serious situation. This isn't a game and you have to get it right."
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Among the things DeJoy vowed to stop was the removal of sorting equipment. Sources provided ABC7 with pictures Tuesday of what they say was such equipment being dismantled over the weekend at a postal service facility in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
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It's unclear what DeJoy's announcement will mean for equipment that has already been removed - ABC7 has asked the U.S. Postal Service about the Gaithersburg equipment for two days but has yet to receive an answer about it.
