DeJoy: Trump mail-in ballot attacks 'not helpful'

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told lawmakers Monday that he has warned allies of President Donald Trump that the president’s repeated attacks on mail-in ballots are “not helpful,” but denied that recent changes at the Postal Service are linked to the November elections.

“I am not engaged in sabotaging the election,” DeJoy said, adding that, like Trump, he personally plans to vote by mail.

DeJoy's comments came as he refused requests by Democrats to restore mail-sorting machines or mailboxes removed from service as part of sweeping operational changes at the Postal Service, despite complaints that the changes are causing lasting damage and widespread delays.

Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., fired off a round of quick, seemingly basic questions -- How much to does it cost to mail a postcard? And how many people voted by mail in the last election? -- only to find DeJoy did not know the answers.

“I’m concerned about your understanding of this agency,” she told DeJoy.

DeJoy said many of the operational changes, such as removal of sorting machines, were underway before he arrived. Porter and other Democrats pressed him on who ordered the changes.

DeJoy did not provide an answer.