Neither snow, nor rain, nor 'gangster' Trump...
House Dems declare they’ll ‘prevent the president from playing Al Capone with our Postal Service’
Backed by fellow U.S. Reps. Robin Kelly, Raja Krishnamoorthi, and Brad Schneider, Congressman Danny Davis says they’re out to “prevent the president from playing Al Capone with our Postal Service.” (One Illinois/Ted Cox)
By Ted Cox
Several Democratic U.S. representatives joined Tuesday in declaring they’d defend the U.S. Postal Service from “sabotage” by President Trump in an attempt to “steal an election” this fall.
U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley of Chicago rallied his fellow House Democrats from Illinois in a news conference outside the Chicago headquarters of the Postal Service. Charging that the president is out to “sabotage” the post office to suppress the vote nationwide, Quigley said, “Americans want a choice in how they vote this November” in the midst of an ongoing pandemic.
“Donald Trump is attempting to gangster the Postal Service,” said U.S. Rep. Danny Davis of Chicago. He said they are united in working to “prevent the president from playing Al Capone with our Postal Service.”
U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg quoted the USPS motto: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds,” adding, “Neither will Louis DeJoy.”
Postmaster General DeJoy, a major Trump campaign contributor, has come under fire since taking the post in June for halting overtime, staggering employee hours, removing sorting machines, and generally slowing mail delivery. Critics have charged that’s leading up to an intentional attempt to suppress voting by mail in the fall election, as Trump himself has been outspoken in opposing mail-in ballots — even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic — and has said outright that Republicans have no chance of winning if voting is made easier.
Just last week, USPS warned that it might not be able to get ballots delivered in time to be counted in 46 states, including Illinois, as well as the District of Columbia.
“This is undermining our democracy,” said U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Evanston.
“Make no mistake, Donald Trump is trying to steal an election,” said Keith Richardson, president of the American Postal Workers Union’s Chicago Local 1. “We can’t cripple this service.”
In addition, several representatives pointed out the delays in mail delivery were also threatening seniors who get their Social Security checks in the mail and seniors and veterans who get medication through the mail. U.S. Rep. Sean Casten of Downers Grove pointed out businesses rely on the mail as well.
U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider of Deerfield said his office had received 600 complaints just Monday on belated mail delivery. He charged Trump with attempting to “stymie” the vote this fall.
“Our phones have been ringing off the hook,” Schakowsky said.
Quigley pointed out that USPS has the strongest backing of any federal agency, with 80 percent of U.S. citizens saying they support the post office.
The representatives united in support for the Delivering for America Act, which will fund USPS and hold it to delivery standards set at the beginning of the year. Schakowsky said it would be “going back and undoing some of the damage they have done.” They’re slated to head back to the U.S. Capitol this weekend to pass the bill, followed by DeJoy appearing before a House committee next week.
That will go on, but the nationwide pressure had an immediate effect Tuesday as DeJoy issued a statement saying: “To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded.”
The Democrats said they expect the act to pass with bipartisan support in the House, but Davis pointed out it would also put members of Congress on the record on whether they support funding for the service. “We also want the American people to know how cowardly our Republican colleagues are,” he said.
That’s especially true in the Senate, which has failed to take up the HEROES Act, a pandemic relief package that passed the House in May and would allot $25 billion to the Postal Service.
“This should not be partisan,” Casten said. “But it demands leadership.”
U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia of Chicago charged the Trump administration with “nothing less than criminal intent,” and Schneider said they are asking Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul to open an investigation “for their willful delay of the mail.”
Raoul later in the day joined more than a dozen state attorneys general in filing a federal suit against the mail slowdown. “When faced with the imminent filing of this lawsuit, the postmaster general today announced his intention to pause his disruptive actions until after the election,” Raoul said in a statement. “But make no mistake, a statement issued in a press release is inadequate in providing assurance to the millions of Americans relying on the Postal Service that he will not reverse course — again. I am filing this lawsuit to ensure that the postmaster general can be held accountable to a federal court. The right to vote is too important to be contingent on a statement in a press release.”
On Monday, Garcia joined U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin in defending the Postal Service during an online news conference in advance of the Democratic National Convention.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth chimed in later Tuesday after speaking with John Cooksey, president of the Illinois State Association for the National Association of Letter Carriers, and Sharyn Stone, central regional coordinator of the American Postal Workers, about how the administration’s recent changes had affected mail delivery. “Our veterans, myself included, rely on the Postal Service and the thous”
On Monday, Garcia joined U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin in defending the Postal Service during an online news conference in advance of the Democratic National Convention.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth chimed in later Tuesday after speaking with John Cooksey, president of the Illinois State Association for the National Association of Letter Carriers, and Sharyn Stone, central regional coordinator of the American Postal Workers, about how the administration’s recent changes had affected mail delivery. “Our veterans, myself included, rely on the Postal Service and the thous”
On Monday, Garcia joined U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin in defending the Postal Service during an online news conference in advance of the Democratic National Convention.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth chimed in later Tuesday after speaking with John Cooksey, president of the Illinois State Association for the National Association of Letter Carriers, and Sharyn Stone, central regional coordinator of the American Postal Workers, about how the administration’s recent changes had affected mail delivery. “Our veterans, myself included, rely on the Postal Service and the thous”
On Monday, Garcia joined U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin in defending the Postal Service during an online news conference in advance of the Democratic National Convention.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth chimed in later Tuesday after speaking with John Cooksey, president of the Illinois State Association for the National Association of Letter Carriers, and Sharyn Stone, central regional coordinator of the American Postal Workers, about how the administration’s recent changes had affected mail delivery. “Our veterans, myself included, rely on the Postal Service and the thous”
On Monday, Garcia joined U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin in defending the Postal Service during an online news conference in advance of the Democratic National Convention.
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth chimed in later Tuesday after speaking with John Cooksey, president of the Illinois State Association for the National Association of Letter Carriers, and Sharyn Stone, central regional coordinator of the American Postal Workers, about how the administration’s recent changes had affected mail delivery. “Our veterans, myself included, rely on the Postal Service and the thousands of hardworking postal workers to deliver prescriptions from the (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs), and countless more Americans rely on the USPS to deliver their paychecks and other critical items,” Duckworth said. “Recent changes and attacks on the USPS are unacceptable, and merely ‘suspending’ them isn’t enough. The USPS must have its processing capabilities and capacity restored immediately. I’ll keep doing everything I can to help ensure the USPS and our postal workers have the resources and funding they need to continue to function properly.”
“We will not be defeated,” Schakowsky said. “The American people are going to be able to vote, and they’re going to be able to vote by mail.”
Mack Julion, president of the Chicago branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers, urged voters to “get those ballots in the mail as soon as possible,” adding that his members would make sure they get to local election officials on time.