USPS chief Louis DeJoy says he is suspending some changes to the post office until after the 2020 election

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy was suspending certain changes at the United States Postal Service (USPS) until after the 2020 election in order to avoid the appearance of any impact on election mail. His sweeping cost-cutting measures at the agency had raised alarms about widespread mail delays that could impact the November vote. He was temporarily halting some longstanding operational initiatives that predated his arrival at the agency.

DeJoy did not cite which specific initiatives he was suspending. He did, however, provide some assurances. Retail hours at post offices would not be changed, mail processing facilities would not be closed, and that mail processing equipment would not be moved. He also said that overtime had, and would continue to be, approved as needed. He is a major donor to Republicans and committees supporting the reelection of President Donald Trump, who has claimed without evidence that an anticipated flood of mail-in ballots in the presidential race would lead to massive levels of voter fraud.

Democrats in recent weeks had sounded off about the steps DeJoy had taken at USPS in the months since he was selected for the role by the agency’s board of governors, all of whom were appointed by Trump. Those measures reportedly included crackdowns on making late delivery trips and cuts to overtime pay, among other changes. The overhaul of the agency had led to significant delays in mail deliveries.

USPS had also come under fire amid reports of mail-sorting machines across the country being removed from facilities.

DeJoy’s statement did not make clear if the machines that had already been removed would be returned to service. He came to USPS to make changes to secure the success of the organization and its long-term sustainability. He believed significant reforms were essential to that objective, and worked toward those reforms would commence after the election.

Starting October 2020, USPS would add standby resources in all areas of its operations to better handle any unforeseen demand. An existing taskforce on election mail would also be expanded. Senator Elizabeth Warren responded to DeJoy’s statement that he needed to be kept eyes on so would not find new ways to dismantle the agency. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was calling the House back into session in order to vote on a bill that would block his reported operational changes until the covid pandemic ended.

The covid pandemic was expected to prompt more Americans than ever to cast their ballots for president by mail. Some state leaders had made plans to expand access to mail-in ballots, including by sending out ballots directly to eligible voters. Earlier Tuesday, Trump claimed that widespread mail-in voting would lead to a disaster the likes of which the United States had never seen, mail-in voting would end up being a rigged election or the election would never come out with an outcome, the people would have to vote again, and nobody wanted that.

DeJoy was a former supply chain CEO who was reportedly the first postmaster general in decades who had not been a career USPS employee.

In addition to his overhaul of the post office, DeJoy had come under fire for his business investments, which some Democrats said could pose conflicts of interest. Since taking charge of USPS in mid-June, he had stressed that the agency faced financial oblivion unless dramatic changes were made to its structure. Democrats were currently fighting to include $25 billion for the agency, as well as $3.6 billion in election funding, as part of their proposal for an additional covid relief package.

Trump had strongly signaled that those funds posed an insurmountable obstacle to a deal on additional stimulus money that could impact large swaths of the country. Trump had also recently suggested that he could quash efforts to expand mail-in voting altogether if he refused to agree to the funding for USPS. If Trump would not make a deal, that means the agency could not get the money, that means the people could not have universal mail-in voting.

DeJoy insisted that the USPS had ample capacity to handle election mail. But the agency was warning states that it could not guarantee all mail-in ballots would arrive in time to be counted in the presidential race. The letters were issued at the end of July and planned before he was selected as the new postmaster general.