Post Office Cuts Decried By Orange County Representatives
NEWPORT BEACH, CA — Mailboxes removed, letters and medications delayed, enough is enough for citizens and legislators across the Southland. On Tuesday, Democratic Southland legislators gathered at postal facilities in Los Angeles and Orange Counties to decry a concerted effort by the Trump Administration to scuttle post office operations ahead of an election. With voters expected to rely heavily on mail-in ballots, the allegations have picked up steam in recent days.
Across the country, leaders have spoken out on apparent slowdowns in mail delivery due to operational changes implemented by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. A $25 billion spending package for the postal service is expected to be approved by the House this weekend in an effort to approve operations.
In Newport Beach, Rep. Harley Rouda spoke out against the politicizing of the United States Postal Service by the president.
"The United States Postal Service is an institution that was started before the constitution, the first postmaster general was Benjamin Franklin," Rouda said in his speech. "Look how far we've fallen."
In Los Angeles, Rep. Jimmy Gomez spoke on the upcoming bill, from a downtown postal facility.
"We're going to pass a bill on Saturday to give the Post Office the $25 billion it needs for operational expenses, but also to provide guard rails to the post office and postmaster general in order to revert of a lot of the changes that were done," Gomez said. "That means putting back the sorting equipment, putting back the boxes, putting back what was already done and approving the overtime."
In advance of the planned speeches, DeJoy issued a statement saying he was suspending any more operational changes until after the November election "to avoid even the appearance of any impact" on the handling of mail-in ballots.
"The Postal Service is ready today to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives this fall," DeJoy wrote. "Even with the challenges of keeping our employees and customers safe and healthy as they operate amid a pandemic, we will deliver the nation's election mail on time and within our well-established service standards. The American public should know that this is our number one priority between now and election day. The 630,000 dedicated women and men of the Postal Service are committed, ready and proud to meet this sacred duty."
DeJoy, a major Trump donor, has been criticized for cuts at the agency, including the removal of some sorting machines and collection boxes. The moves came amid continued criticism by Trump about mail-in balloting, which he contends will lead to widespread election fraud. DeJoy insisted in his statement that some cuts at the agency pre-dated his arrival at the post office.
Trump, who during a recent Fox News interview expressed reluctance to provide the post office with funding amid what he called Democrats' efforts to expand mail-in voting, later denied trying to scuttle the agency or the election.
"The U.S. Post Office has been failing for many decades," the president wrote on Twitter Monday. "We simply want to make the post office great again, while at the same time saving billions of dollars a year for American taxpayers. Dems don't have a clue."
Southland legislators lashed out against cuts that have already been made, while expressing skepticism about DeJoy's assurances.
Rep. Lou Correa of Santa Ana spoke out on the steps of the local post office.
"Vote-by-mail has become a very important part of our democracy," Correa said. "We have to make sure that given all the election challenges that we have, we have to make sure the post office is up and running and is able to deliver on democracy on time."
In Los Angeles, Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard continued to express concern even after DeJoy's announcement.
"In spite of the postmaster general's commitments that he will support USPS operations, we must make sure he takes EVERY possible action to ensure USPS operates at full strength and delivers mail swiftly now and in the future," Roybal-Allard said. "Our health, our finances and our democracy are at stake."
City News Service, Patch Editor Ashley Ludwig contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on the Newport Beach-Corona Del Mar Patch
