House Ends Recess Early to Address Postal Service Situation

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is bringing the House back from August recess to vote on emergency postal legislation after concerns that new policies imposed by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) could cause severe mail delays across the country. She said in a statement, "The postmaster general and top Postal Service leaders must answer to the Congress and the American people as to why they are pushing these dangerous new policies that threaten to silence the voices of millions, just months before the election."

A new bill, the Delivering for America Act (H.R. 8015) would ban the USPS from making changes to the operations or level of service it had on January 1, 2020 during the COVID-19 crisis. There is concern that new policies imposed by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who assumed the position in June, could delay mail deliveries and affect mail-in voting.

Under the legislation, the service would specifically be barred from revising service standards, closing post offices or reducing hours, banning overtime pay, or making other changes that would delay mail or increase the volume of undelivered mail.

“At this juncture in our nation’s history, when the number of Americans voting by mail for this Presidential election is expected to more than double from the last, Congress must protect the right of all eligible citizens to have their vote counted,” said House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), the bill’s sponsor.

A bipartisan Senate bill that Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced in July called the Postal Service Emergency Assistance Act (S. 4174) would provide $25 billion to the USPS to cover COVID-19 related costs and expenses. Under this legislation, the USPS would be required to develop a long-term solvency plan. FEDmanager previously reported on the contents of the bill.

USPS Chief Financial Officer Joe Corbett said in May that “while we continue to conserve capital and reduce expenses in areas where volumes are declining, our ability to continue to serve the nation will require substantial funding from the federal government or other sources.”

As of Tuesday morning, Postmaster General DeJoy has said he would pause operational changes until after the election. He said that retail hours at post offices will remain the same, mail processing equipment will not be removed, and no mail processing facilities will be closed.

The postmaster stated, “to avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded."