All changes being made to the U.S. Postal Service will now be postponed until after the November 3, 2020 election after 20 Democratic states announce plans to sue Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
According to CNN, at least two federal lawsuits are in the process of being filed with the first one being led by Washington state and joined by Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson wrote that DeJoy “acted outside of his authority to implement changes to the postal system, and did not follow the proper procedures under federal law.”
Ferguson added, “For partisan gain, President Trump is attempting to destroy a critical institution that is essential for millions of Americans. We rely on the Postal Service for our Social Security benefits, prescriptions — and exercising our right to vote. Our coalition will fight to protect the Postal Service and uphold the rule of law in federal court.”
Trump stated last week that the service cuts at the Postal Service have a partisan motive.
“They need that money in order to make the Post Office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,” Trump claimed. “They don’t have the money to do the universal mail-in voting. So therefore, they can’t do it, I guess.”
Ferguson repeatedly refuted Trump’s unfounded claims about mail-in voting.
“In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is imperative that we fiercely protect the democratic right to vote for all Americans, and simultaneously, the physical safety of voters,” Ferguson said earlier this month. “Expansion of vote-by-mail options across the country allows us to achieve both.”
The second lawsuit is being filed in a Pennsylvania federal court. States involved in this lawsuit include California, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Delaware, Maine, and North Carolina.
DeJoy issued a statement Tuesday on behalf of the U.S. Postal Service.
“I want to assure all Americans of the following: Retail hours at Post Offices will not change; mail processing equipment and blue collection boxes will remain where they are; no mail processing facilities will be closed; and we reassert that overtime has, and will continue to be, approved as needed.”
DeJoy continued, “In addition, effective Oct. 1, we will engage standby resources in all areas of our operations, including transportation, to satisfy any unforeseen demand.”
However, the damage to the U.S. Postal Service and election integrity has already been marred with removal of postal boxes and delivery slowdowns in recent weeks.