Press Releases
Dingell, Bipartisan Lawmakers Pass Legislation to Protect USPSThroughout the summer, USPS has removed at least 10 automated mail-sorting machines in Michigan
Washington,
August 22, 2020
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-MI) voted in favor of the Delivering for America Act, legislation to provide emergency funding to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and prevent major roll back of operational changes to the Postal Service. “The Postal Service is one of the great pillars of this democracy. It is enshrined in the Constitution and is an essential service for so many for prescriptions, Social Security benefits, paychecks, tax returns and absentee ballots for millions of American,” said Dingell. “Tampering with the USPS is reckless and an assault on democracy. Today we are sending a strong message: Do not mess with the USPS.” The legislation would prohibit the Postal Service from implementing any changes to operations or level of service it had in place on January 1, 2020 through the entirety of the COVID-19 pandemic and provides $25 billion in critical funding to support the Postal Service: the same level of funding recommended by the USPS Board of Governors, which is composed of 100 percent Trump appointees. In addition, the legislation would require the Postal Service to treat all election mail as first-class mail. In July, reporters obtained an internal Postal Service memorandum which stated that under Postmaster General DeJoy, the Postal Service had begun the process of removing 671 key mail sorting machines. Before DeJoy announced a pause on these proposed changes, many of these sorting machines had already been removed or dismantled. In addition, DeJoy issued directives that drastically reduced the availability of overtime for Postal Service employees, directly causing delays in delivery. Earlier this week, DeJoy announced a pause in operational changes to USPS. However, the announced pause does nothing to reverse the damage already done or ensure that mail in ballots, if sent in according to their state’s deadlines, will be delivered by the Postal Service in time to be counted. Earlier this week, Dingell led over 100 bipartisan members of Congress in urging DeJoy to properly execute delivery of mail-in ballots. ### |