House Sets Vote on $25 Billion to Aid Embattled Postal Service
House to Vote on $25 Billion to Aid Post Office, Bar Cutbacks
(Bloomberg) -- House Democrats plan to add $25 billion in funding for the U.S. Postal Service to legislation scheduled to be voted on Saturday that would prohibit cutbacks in service ahead of the November election, according to people familiar with the matter.
The move reflects a dedicated effort to strengthen the agency ahead of the mailing of millions of election ballots, amid a stalemate between Republicans and Democrats on broader coronavirus relief measures. The amount is the same as what House Democrats assigned for the Postal Service in their May stimulus bill. Speaker Nancy Pelosi told House Democrats of the plan during a conference call on Monday, according to the people.
Democrats also are increasing scrutiny of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, an appointee of President Donald Trump and a major GOP donor. He’s agreed to testify Aug. 24 to the House Oversight and Reform Committee, Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney announced. The agency’s inspector general also agreed to Democrats’ request to probe DeJoy’s recent staffing changes and any conflicts of interest, Maloney said.
Separately, a group of voters and political candidates sued Trump and DeJoy in federal court seeking an order to block the administration’s alleged efforts to interfere with the November election by hobbling the post office.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows have offered $10 billion in Postal Service funding as part of the negotiations on a broader relief measure. It’s not clear whether the move by Pelosi, who had been resisting previous calls from the GOP to pass components of a stimulus bill separately, offers any potential break in the stalemate.
Any action on the money or service cutbacks by the House on Saturday also would require passage by the Senate. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday indicated a willingness to act to bolster Postal Service operations, but didn’t commit to holding a vote. He also dismissed the alarms being raised by Democrats.
“The Postal Service is going to be just fine. We’re going to make sure that the ability to function going into the election is not adversely affected,” McConnell said at a press conference in Kentucky.
The mail service has become a flashpoint between the two parties. Democrats accuse Trump of sabotaging the agency to cripple vote-by-mail efforts. Meanwhile, Trump, who’s trailing challenger Joe Biden in polls, has claimed -- without evidence -- that widespread remote voting routinely leads to massive fraud.
More Biden voters than Trump voters say they plan to use a mail-in ballot for the general election, according to an NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released Monday. Some 47% of Biden voters plan to vote by mail. Among Trump supporters the figure is 11%, according to the poll.
McConnell is facing some pressure from fellow Republicans to bring the Senate back to provide money for the Postal Service. For one thing, it’s the most popular government agency with the public, and it is particularly vital for rural areas, a voting base for Trump and Republicans more broadly.
Susan Collins of Maine, one of the most endangered Senate Republicans, tweeted Sunday that the Senate should return to pass a $25 billion postal aid package backed by her and Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein.
The House legislation would prohibit the Postal Service from implementing any changes to the operations or level of service it had in place at the beginning of the year until the “last day of the Covid-19 public health emergency” or Jan. 1, 2021, whichever is latest.
The bill also would end what Democrats have described as the Treasury Department’s “blockade” of the $10 billion loan authorized in the relief measure passed by Congress in March.
Democrats also are proposing setting aside another $25 billion for capital investment in upcoming infrastructure legislation.
McConnell said Senate Republicans and Mnuchin discussed the state of the broader stimulus negotiation on a conference call Monday morning. Meadows told reporters Monday that there have been lower-level discussions, but none among himself, Mnuchin, Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer.
“We are making progress, at least in a conceptual way, but there has been no real discussions between the four negotiators,” Meadows said.
McConnell said he still hopes they can reach a deal with Democrats, but didn’t offer any guarantees.
“I can’t tell you with certainty we’re going to reach an agreement,” he said.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.