Democrats Pressing Postal Service to Undo Changes Causing Mass Delays

Democratic Congress members are calling on the U.S. Postal Service to undo operational changes that are causing delays in shipments across the country.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said on Thursday that changes put in place by the new Republican postmaster general “threaten the timely delivery of mail — including medicines for seniors, paychecks for workers and absentee ballots for voters — that is essential to millions of Americans”

The changes were made to help with cost-cutting during the COVID-19 pandemic, but have led to significant delays in mail delivery nationwide. In a letter to the new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, the democrats stated “In this moment, Americans have turned to the Postal Service and depend on it for the timely delivery of critical goods and a safe alternative to in-person interactions. As a result, we believe these changes must be reversed.‘’ The operational changes eliminate overtime for hundreds of thousands of postal workers and mandate that mail be kept until the next day if distribution centers are running late.

Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, is asking the public to provide their stories about delays or other problems with deliveries.

The Senate inquiry comes as lawmakers increasingly focus on the Postal Service, which is reeling from mail delays and financial problems at a time when record numbers of mail ballots are expected in the November presidential election because of the coronavirus pandemic.