![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() (Vox reached out to the USPS for clarification and will update if we hear back.)ĭeJoy said that, effective October 1, the USPS will “engage standby resources,” as necessary, to satisfy an increase in demand. He said retail hours at post offices will remain the same mail processing facilities will remain open overtime will continue to be approved and “mail processing equipment and blue collection boxes will remain where they are.” It is not clear whether the blue boxes removed or mail processing equipment already in the process of being decommissioned will be brought back online. “In the meantime, there are some long-standing operational initiatives - efforts that predate my arrival at the Postal Service - that have been raised as areas of concern as the nation prepares to hold an election in the midst of a devastating pandemic.”ĭeJoy didn’t specify exactly which initiatives he was referring to do, but he did offer reassurances. “I believe significant reforms are essential to that objective, and work toward those reforms will commence after the election,” DeJoy said in his statement. The USPS had already warned 46 states that it might not be able to deliver ballots to election officials in time to be counted, which these slashes to service could make even worse.ĭeJoy stood by his stated longer-term goals but said he would delay the reforms in response to public concerns about the November elections. The Postal Service has for years faced serious financial problems, but those problems have been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.īut as President Donald Trump continues to attack mail-in voting, some have accused DeJoy - a Trump ally who took on the postmaster job in June - of purposefully disrupting postal service at the president’s behest in such a way that threatens to disenfranchise some Americans, especially as election officials anticipate an influx of vote-by-mail because of the pandemic. DeJoy and the USPS have defended these changes, saying they’re necessary to keep the Postal Service sustainable in the long term. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said Tuesday in a statement that “to avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded.”ĭeJoy’s announcement comes as changes to USPS’s operations faced increasing pressure from lawmakers, particularly Democrats, and voting-rights groups and the public, which are happening against the backdrop of President Donald Trump waging a campaign against mail-in voting.Īs Recode’s Adam Clark Estes reported, those budget-slashing policies included limiting overtime, reducing the number of mail trucks, and decommissioning sorting machines, all of which had the potential effect of slowing mail and deliveries of everything from packages to prescription drugs. The United States Postal Service will pause its cost-cutting policies after the recent moves sparked controversy and intensified fears that such measures might undermine the US elections this November. ![]()
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