NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – Leading Democrats are promising to fight for the U.S. Postal Service as reports surface about delays, cost-cutting and possible conflicts of interest.
In front of the USPS FDR Station on Third Avenue on Saturday, Rep. Carolyn Maloney joined union leaders—including from the National Postal Mail Handlers Union and the National Association of Letter Carriers—to “defend” USPS “against President Trump and Senate Republicans’ attacks against a pillar of our democracy.”
“We are pleading with the president to be like every other president in history and support the delivery of the mail,” Maloney said.
Maloney and other Democrats, including Sen. Chuck Schumer, signed onto a letter to USPS leadership, demanding answers about several recent decisions.
Maloney said Trump is holding more postal funding hostage because of his dislike of mail-in voting. She also asked questions about Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
“For the past 20 years, the postmaster general has been a professional from the post office that has come up through the ranks. This one was a political donor to the president with no experience in the post office,” Maloney said.
DeJoy has denied making any decision at the direction of the Trump administration.
Union leaders like Yvette Johnson, vice president of the National Postal Mail Handlers Union Local 300, promised to do all they could to keep mail moving despite the pandemic and recent cuts.
“We were essential during the pandemic and we remain essential today,” Johnson said.
In a press release, Johnson said emergency funding is needed “to provide the safety of our members and to ensure the USPS is fully operations not only to meet the demands of nation-wide mail-in voting, but also the service Americans expect on a daily basis.”