Pelosi Slams Postmaster General Louis DeJoy After Meeting With Him: He Says He Has ‘No Intention’ to Replace Removed Mailboxes, Sorting Machines

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced on Wednesday that she had a conversation with Postmaster General Louis DeJoy ahead of his upcoming hearings before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. According to the speaker, DeJoy “frankly admitted” that he did not intend to replace the pieces of the Postal Service infrastructure that were removed as part of his policy reform plans.

Pelosi’s office released a statement on the discussion, saying she told DeJoy that his announced suspension of changes “is not a solution and is misleading.”

From the statement:

The Postmaster General’s alleged pause is wholly insufficient and does not reverse damage already wreaked. The Postmaster General frankly admitted that he had no intention of replacing the sorting machines, blue mailboxes and other key mail infrastructure that have been removed and that plans for adequate overtime, which is critical for the timely delivery of mail, are not in the works. All of these changes directly jeopardize the election and disproportionately threaten to disenfranchise voters in communities of color. At the same time, we are highly concerned that the slowdown of the delivery of medicines to veterans is not being sufficiently addressed.

Pelosi’s announcement went on to say the House will proceed to vote on a bill prohibiting recent changes to the mail service, which comes amid allegations of slowed delivery. The Postal Service has come under great focus due to Donald Trump’s attacks mail-in voting, especially after the president suggested he would withhold funding from the agency to prevent mail-in voting from being expanded in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The Postal Service is Election Central during the pandemic,” the statement said, “and Democrats will not allow the President to force Americans to choose between their health and their vote.”