Home » News » Democrats launch urgent offensive in Congress to curb Postal Service crisis as Trump shifts responsibility to Amazon

Democrats launch urgent offensive in Congress to curb Postal Service crisis as Trump shifts responsibility to Amazon

The president, Donald Trump, on Monday blamed the Amazon company for the financial crisis suffered by the Postal Service, and insisted that he allow everyone who wishes to vote by mail in the elections of November 3, in the that its continuity in the White House is at stake, would suppose “the biggest scam of all time”.

Trump indicated last week that is intentionally withholding money from the Postal Service to undermine your ability to process vote-by-mail in the presidential elections.

This Monday he preferred to accuse Amazon and other courier companies of the crisis: “They leave thousands of packages at the post office and then say: ‘here, you deliver them.’ We lose three to four dollars per package on average. We lose huge amounts of money ”.

The president has been attacking voting by mail for months as prone to fraud, even though there is no evidence that this is true. He himself voted in this way in the primaries and he and his wife, Melania Trump, have already requested their ballots to mail in the election.

The Postal Service last week warned states of the high risk that votes sent by mail do not arrive in time to be counted due to service problems due to lack of funding.

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The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, announced in a letter sent this Sunday to congressmen that she will interrupt the vacation recess to try to stop this crisis with a bill that it would prevent further changes to the operations of the Postal Service.

“We are seeing across the country the devastating effects of the president’s campaign to sabotage the elections by manipulating the Postal Service to disenfranchise himself as he seeks his re-election,” Pelosi wrote.

The Democratic leaders of the House of Representatives called to appear before the Congress to the main civil servants of the Postal Service on August 24, after the agency warned that its ability to handle mail-in voting was at risk amid the pandemic.

As concerns mount that the White House is trying to undermine the agency, just as several states have expanded vote-by-mail as an option for the November elections, the House Oversight and Reform Committee convened to an extraordinary hearing next Monday.

“Alarmingly, the CEO of the Postal Service, an extraordinary contributor to Trump’s campaigns, has acted as an accomplice in the president’s campaign to cheat in the election, implementing sweeping operational changes that degrade delivery standards and they delay the mail. “

[Siga nuestra cobertura de las elecciones presidenciales 2020]

“The Postal Service itself has warned that voters, even if they cast their ballots within state deadlines, can be disenfranchised in 46 states and Washington DC due to continued delays,” the statement continued. “This constitutes a serious threat to the integrity of the elections and to our own democracy.”

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Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shared the House of Representatives statement via Twitter. “We’ll see each other there,” the 30-year-old Latina legislator wrote, along with the hashtag #SaveThePostOffice (save the Postal Service).

The officials who will appear before Congress are the new general director of the Post Office, Louis DeJoy, who has raised funds for the Republicans and has been one of the main campaign donors of the president, Donald Trump, and the president of the board of governors. , Michael Duncan, former chairman of the Republican National Committee.

In response to a request for comment from NBC, Telemundo’s sister network, the Postal Service said it will postpone the removal of street collection boxes for a period of 90 days. The clarification comes after the elimination of several dozen mailboxes caused a wave of panic on social networks for fear of possible interference from President Trump in that agency and in the elections.

The president admitted Thursday that he would withhold funds from the Postal Service to restrict voting by mail during the pandemic..

The Postal Service warned several key states in the November presidential election Friday that ballots sent by voters by mail are likely not to arrive in time to be counted.

The warning, which is contextualized by the budget and personnel deficit experienced by the Postal Service, generates a new level of Uncertainty About Vote By Mail Due To Coronavirus Pandemic and the refusal of the president, Donald Trump, to provide the necessary funds to guarantee the operations of this agency.

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Some 46 states, including some key to winning the election such as California, Florida, Michigan and Pennsylvania, received letters from Postal Service legal adviser Thomas Marshall warning that even if people follow all electoral rules, the Delivery delays by the Postal Service may cause your votes to be disqualified.

[Cinco falsedades en los ataques de Trump al voto por correo, que será clave en noviembre por el coronavirus]

The Postal Service has said in congressional hearings in recent days that it could run out of funds as early as September, just two months before the vote. For this reason, the postal workers union launched a campaign asking citizens to ask their representatives in Congress to intercede for them.

As a temporary measure to raise funds, the agency announced that it will increase prices for some domestic shipments.

With information from The Associated Press, NBC News, Fox News and EFE.

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