WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called on Representatives to return to session this week to vote on an emergency bill to prevent what she termed as President Donald Trump's campaign to sabotage the presidential election by manipulating the U.S. Postal Service to disenfranchise voters.
House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer will be announcing the legislative schedule for the week, cutting short the recess.
The Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Carolyn B. Maloney's 'Delivering for America Act' prohibits the Postal Service from implementing any changes to operations or level of service it had in place on January 1, 2020.
Millions of voters are expected to cast their ballot by mail-in voting in November's presidential election as a safe alternative in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
But the Trump administration has threatened to block funds for the financially troubled USPS arguing that universal mail-in ballots would cause widespread voter fraud in the election.
In a letter addressed to the members of the House of Representatives, Pelosi accused new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy of pushing forward 'sweeping new operational changes that degrade postal service and delay the mail.'
'These delays also threaten the health and economic security of the American people by delaying delivery of life-saving medicines and payments,' according to her. In 2019, 1.2 billion prescriptions were delivered through the Postal Services, including almost 100 percent from the VA to veterans.
The Speaker, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, Maloney and Gary C. Peters, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, have ordered De Joy and Chairman of the USPS Board of Governors Robert Duncan to testify at an urgent hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform on August 24.
'The President has explicitly stated his intention to manipulate the Postal Service to deny eligible voters access to the ballot in pursuit of his own re-election. Alarmingly, the Postmaster General - a Trump mega-donor - has acted as an accomplice in the President's campaign to cheat in the election, as he launches sweeping new operational changes that degrade delivery standards and delay the mail,' they said in a press release.
Pelosi, one of the vehement Democratic critics of President Trump, has made it clear that in a time of a pandemic, the Postal Service is 'Election Central', and that Americans should not have to choose between their health and their vote.
Pelosi also called on House Members to participate in a 'Day of Action' Tuesday to save the Postal Service by appearing at a Post Office in their districts for a press event.
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