Protesters outside the home of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, Washington DC, August 15, 2020 (EPA)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and state leaders move to secure the US Postal Service and November’s elections against Donald Trump’s attempt to undermine them.

Pelosi said Sunday that she will recall the House from its annual summer recess for a vote this week on legislation to block changes at the Postal Service by Postmaster General and Trump mega-donor Louis DeJoy.

Appointed in May, DeJoy has imposed severe cutbacks at USPS, restricting services and banning overtimes. Sorting machines, vital to count mail-in ballots, are now being removed in some states, although public pressure blocked further withdrawal of mailboxes.

DeJoy, who has no previous experience in USPS, dismissed 23 senior executives earlier this month. The Service’s Inspector General has opened an investigation into his actions.

Meanwhile, with Trump repeating the lie that mail-in voting is fraudulent the White House is refusing to provide additional funds for USPS. Last week Trump made clear that he is blocking the money to prevent postal votes.

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The House was not scheduled to return until September 14, but is expected to consider a Postal Service bill as early as Saturday.

“Lives, livelihoods, and the life of our American democracy are under threat from the president,” Pelosi wrote Democratic legislators. “That is why I am calling upon the House to return to session later this week.”

It is not clear if Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will allow the upper chamber, with its Republican control, to consider any bill. One GOP senator, Susan Collins of Maine — who is facing a battle for re-election — has called for a Coronavirus relief package with the USPS funding.

Democratic legislators said in a joint statement Sunday:

The Postmaster General and top Postal Service leadership must answer to the Congress and the American people as to why they are pushing these dangerous new policies that threaten to silence the voices of millions, just months before the election.

Pelosi and Rep. Carolyn Maloney, the chairwoman of the House Oversight Committee, called for testimony from DeJoy and Robert Duncan, the chairman of the Postal Service Board of Governors, on August 24. Sen. Gary Peters sought a similar hearing in the upper chamber.

State Moves: “Every American’s Vote Counts”

Last week Secretaries of State from Michigan to Pennsylvania began preparations to ensure mail-in voting, seeking the counting of ballots after election day. Governors such as Gavin Newsom of California and Phil Murphy of New Jersey announced drop off sites and collection provisions, as well as plans for safe polling stations amid the pandemic. Colorado’s administration is paying for additional drop boxes.

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A coalition of State Democratic Attorneys General are considering lawsuits. Washington State is expected to be the first to file this week, and Pennsylvania and New York are likely to follow.

Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring said:

We are going to make sure that every American’s vote counts this fall, whether cast by mail or in person.

My colleagues and I are working as we speak to determine what Trump and DeJoy are doing, whether they have already violated or are likely to violate any laws, and what tools we have at our disposal to put a stop to President Trump’s ongoing attack on our Postal Service and our democracy.

State election officials, conferring with postal managers, say they have been told ballots will be given priority treatment.

“We are exploring all available options, but we also want to make clear that people should continue to make use of mail options and not be deterred by the President’s effort to undermine the election,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.

Trump’s Conspiracy Theory Retweets

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who cut off negotiations two weeks ago with Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Coronavirus funds, insisted Sunday, “The President of the United States is not going to interfere with anybody casting their votes in a legitimate way, whether it’s the Post Office or anything else.”

He said no more sorting machines would be removed before Election Day. However, he repeated Trump’s lies about ballot fraud. Pressed for evidence, he could not provide it but maintained, “There’s no evidence that there’s not.”

Jared Kushner repeated his father-in-law’s opposition to mail-in voting. He asserted, “What the President wants is a tried-and-true system like absentee ballots where there is some security mechanism built in.”

Kushner did not explain the difference between mail-in and absentee ballots, or why the “security mechanism” for the former is inadequate. Instead, he put out the deception, “You can’t have a new system and expect them to get it right.”

Postal voting was first used for the Union military in the American Civil War in the 1860s.

Trump was silent, but retweeted the message, “More lies about ‘Vote by mail’. This is nothing but a Democrat attempt to cheat and STEAL this election.”

He also circulated the conspiracy theory, “The liberal media & Dems don’t want the election called the night of the election. They want a few extra days to massage the numbers, so they are planting the seed now that voters won’t know.”