US Postal Service halts some changes amid outcry, lawsuits

Facing mounting public pressure and a crush of state lawsuits, President Donald Trump’s new postmaster general announced Tuesday he is halting some operational changes to mail delivery that critics blamed for widespread delays and warned could disrupt the November election. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said he would “suspend” several of his initiatives — including the removal of the distinctive blue mailboxes that prompted an outcry — until after the election “to avoid even the appearance of impact on election mail.” “We will deliver the nation’s election mail on time,” DeJoy said in a statement. The crisis at the Postal Service has erupted as a major election year issue as DeJoy, a Republican donor who took control of the agency in June, has swiftly engineered cuts and operational changes that are disrupting mail delivery operations and raising alarms that Trump is trying to undermine the agency ahead of the election. Rob Portman and other Republicans in Ohio’s congressional delegation urged DeJoy to “ensure timely and accurate delivery of election-related materials.” Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, welcomed DeJoy’s decision but said the Postal Service needs COVID-related financial relief. Trump has defended DeJoy, but also criticized postal operations and claimed that universal mail-in ballots would be “a disaster.” White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told reporters that Trump “at no time” has pushed for a mail slow-down.