The United States Postal Service will halt several controversial cost-cutting moves until after November’s general election.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced that the postal service will re-instate overtime hours and end the removal of mail-sorting machines among other measures related to its operations.
The announcement came on the same day that several Illinois congressional Democrats gathered outside the Ken Christy Post Office in Aurora to criticize recent delays in delivering mail. U.S. Representative Lauren Underwood says the postal service serves a critical role, especially during a public health crisis. Underwood said she's," horrified by this administration's efforts to dismantle this essential service. And I demand a reversal of the recent operational changes that put all of us and our very democracy at risk."
As tensions rose with the cutbacks, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been preparing lawmakers to vote on a measure that would prohibit the Postal Service from implementing any changes to operations or level of service it had in place as of January 1.
- Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco is a 2020 corps member for Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project which is a national service program that places talented journalists in local newsrooms.
