The House of Representatives voted in a rare Saturday session to pass legislation that would provide $25 billion in emergency funding to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and would prohibit Postmaster General (PMG) Louis DeJoy from implementing any changes to postal operations before the November elections.
The House passed the bill largely along party lines with a vote of 257-150. Twenty-six Republicans voted in favor of the bill, ignoring party leaders who were pushing members to oppose the legislation.
However, the legislation may not be considered in the Republican-controlled Senate. The White House said that President Donald Trump would veto it.
Prior to the vote, Trump tweeted “This is all another HOAX by the Democrats to give 25 Billion unneeded dollars for political purposes.”
DeJoy, a Trump ally and GOP donor, has come under fire amid a political controversy over mail-in voting.
Democrats have been critical of DeJoy’s cost-cutting measures he has implemented since assuming the postmaster general position on June 15, claiming his operational changes have slowed mail delivery, which could impact mail-in ballots during this fall’s elections.
The Delivering for America Act (H.R.8015), introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., on Aug. 11, would require mail-in ballots and other bulk election materials to be treated as first-class mail for delivery priority. The bill also prohibits the removal of mail sorting machines and mailboxes and would restore postal operations it had in place on January 1 until the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
The House vote comes a day after DeJoy appeared before the Senate Homeland and Governmental Affairs Committee. In his testimony, DeJoy said he believes Americans should be allowed to vote by mail, and that USPS has more than enough capacity to quickly and accurately process and deliver ballots.
DeJoy is scheduled to appear before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Monday.
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