Pelosi to call House back into session to vote on USPS bill

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Sunday she is calling House back into session over crisis at U.S. Postal Service, setting up a political showdown amid growing concerns that Trump White House is trying to undermine ncy ahead of election.

Pelosi is cutting short lawmakers' summer recess with a vote expected Saturday after Democratic National Convention on legislation that would prohibit changes at ncy as tensions mount. President Donald Trump's new postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, has sparked nationwide outcry over delays, new prices and cutbacks just as millions of Americans will be trying to vote by mail to avoid polling places during coronavirus outbreak.

“In a time of a pandemic, Postal Service is Election Central," Pelosi wrote Sunday in a letter to colleagues, who had been expected to be out of session until September. “Lives, livelihoods and life of our American Democracy are under threat from president.”

decision to recall House, made after a weekend of high-level leadership discussions, carries a political punch. Voting in House will highlight issue after weeklong convention minating Joe Biden as party's presidential pick and pressure Republican-held Senate to respond. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sent senators home for a summer recess.

Earlier Sunday, Democratic lawmakers demanded that leaders of Postal Service testify at an emergency oversight hearing Aug. 24 on mail delays. House Oversight and Reform Committee said it wants to hear from DeJoy and from chair of Postal Service board of goverrs, Robert “Mike” Duncan. With heightened scrutiny of its operations, Postal Service is w requesting a temporary preelection rate increase, from mid-October through Christmas, although t for first-class letters.

ncy did t immediately respond to requests for comment about wher two men would appear before House committee. But it said Sunday it would stop removing its distinctive blue mailboxes through mid-vember following complaints from customers and members of Congress that collection boxes were being taken away.

"Given recent customer concerns Postal Service will postpone removing boxes for a period of 90 days while we evaluate our customers' concerns,'' Postal Service spokeswoman Kimberly Frum said.

House Democrats are expected to discuss lawmakers' schedule details on a conference call on Monday and were likely to be in session next Saturday, a senior Democratic aide said on condition of anymity because plans were private. legislation being prepared for vote, “Delivering for America Act,” would prohibits Postal Service from implementing any changes to operations or level of service it had in place on Jan. 1.

DeJoy, a major Republican dor and ally of president who took control of ncy in June, has pledged to modernize money-losing ncy to make it more efficient, and has eliminated most overtime for postal workers, imposed restrictions on transportation and reduced of quantity and use of mail-processing equipment.

Trump said last week that he was blocking a $25 billion emergency injection sought by Postal Service, as well as a Democratic proposal to provide $3.6 billion in additional election money to states. Republican president worries that mail-in voting could cost him reelection. money for post office is intended to help with processing an expected surge of mail-in ballots. Both funding requests have been tied up in congressional negotiations over a new coronavirus relief pack.

On Saturday, Trump tried to mass his mess, saying he supports increasing money for Postal Service. He said he was refusing to capitulate to Democrats on or parts of relief pack, including funding for states weighed down by debt accumulated before pandemic. But president's critics were t appeased, contending that Trump has made calculation that a lower voter turut would improve his chances of winning a second term.

“What you are witnessing is a president of United States who is doing everything he can to suppress vote, make it harder for people to eng in mail-in balloting at a time when people will be putting ir lives on line by having to go out to a polling station and vote,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

In anuncing upcoming hearing, congressional Democrats said in a statement: “ postmaster general and top Postal Service leadership must answer to Congress and American people as to why y are pushing se dangerous new policies that threaten to silence voices of millions, just months before election.” lawmakers included Pelosi of California and New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney, committee chair, along with Senate Mirity Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, top Democrat on Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which oversees Postal Service.

Earlier this month, Maloney's committee had invited DeJoy to appear Sept. 17 at a hearing focusing on operational changes to Postal Service that are causing delays in mail deliveries. But after Trump ackwledged in a Fox Business interview on Thursday that he's starving ncy of money to make it harder to process an expected surge of mail-in ballots, committee decided to move up ir call for appearance of DeJoy' well as governing board chair.

Funding a cash-strapped Postal Service has quickly turned into a top campaign issue as Trump presses his unsupported claim that increased mail-in voting will undermine credibility of election and Democrats push back. Trump, who spent weekend at his New Jersey golf club, derided universal mail-in voting as a “scam” and defended DeJoy as right person to “streamline post office and make it great again.” His chief of staff, Mark Meadows, tried on Sunday to counter criticism that Trump was trying to stifle turut with national and battleground state polls showing him facing a difficult path to reelection against Biden.

“I'll give you that guarantee right w: president of United States is t going to interfere with anybody casting ir vote in a legitimate way, wher it's post office or anything else,” Meadows said.

But Democrats said changes made by DeJoy constitute “a grave threat to integrity of election and to our very democracy." ncy in meantime is w seeking a short-term, end-of--year rate increase, according to a tice filed Friday with Postal Regulatory Commission. reasons: increased expenses, heightened demand for online packs due to coronavirus pandemic and an expected increase in holiday mail volume.

plan would raise prices on commercial domestic competitive parcels, including Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, first-class pack service, Parcel Select and Parcel Return Service. Most of proposed increases would be less than 10%. y range from 24 cents for Parcel Select Service, which starts at $3.05, to a $1.50 increase for Priority Mail Express Commercial, which starts at $22.75. regulatory commission is expected to decide on proposals next month. Postal Service is country's most popular government ncy with 91% of Americans having a favorable opinion of service, according to a Pew Research Center Survey published in April.

“What concerns me is an all-out attack - y're t even hiding it by president of United States to undermine United States Postal Service, to underfund it, to allow a mega-dor leading it to overtly do things to slow down mail," said Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.

Sanders was on NBC's “Meet Press,'' while Meadows and Booker appeared on CNN's ”State of Union."