Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said Tuesday he was calling off all policy changes at the U.S. Postal Service until after the election.
'To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded,' DeJoy said in a statement.
His retreat comes as he prepares to testify before Senators on Friday and before members of the House on Monday about the proposed changes. Several attorneys general in various states were also preparing a lawsuit against him and two House Democrats asked the FBI for a federal criminal investigation.
DeJoy vowed that post office hours would remain the same, no mail processing equipment or blue mail boxes would be moved, no mail processing facilities will be closed, and needed overtime would be approved.
'The Postal Service is ready today to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives this fall,' he said.
'Even with the challenges of keeping our employees and customers safe and healthy as they operate amid a pandemic, we will deliver the nation’s election mail on time and within our well-established service standards. The American public should know that this is our number one priority between now and election day,' he noted.
The postmaster general was under mounting political pressure to reassure Americans their vote would be counted if they voted by mail in November's election. The U.S. Postal Service could handle up to 80 million ballots as people use the option because of the coronavirus pandemic.
DeJoy will appear Friday before the Senate to testify on mail delivery delays and service changes that lawmakers and others are warning could imperil the November election.
Trump has flatly denied he was asking for a slow-walk of the mail.
But his newly-installed postmaster, a Republican with no previous postal management, is facing pressure by Democrats to halt any changes as millions of Americans prepare to vote by mail during the COVID-19 crisis. Demonstrations are being held Tuesday in several cities.
DeJoy will testify to the Homeland Security committee, which is Republican-led.
Its chairman, Ron Johnson, said it was his chance to put 'his side,' and accused Democrats of planning a 'hostile' hearing on Monday with the multi-millionaire Trump donor.
'I wanted to give the PMG an opportunity to tell his side of the story before he appeared before a hostile House committee,' Johnson told Fox News.
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York speaks during a news conference outside the USPS Jamaica station
Question time: Louise DeJoy will get to 'put his side' on Friday to a Republican-led Senate committee ahead of a House hearing where Democrats will be in charge
Slow-downs: The postal service has removed mailboxes and dismantled sorting machines in what DeJoy says is an attempt to cut losses but Democrats warn puts the election in November at risk.
New assault: Donald Trump, before boarding Air Force One for a campaign swing to Iowa and Arizona intended to counter-program the Democratic Convention, launched a fresh attack on mail-in ballots claiming they go to 'dogs and cats' and cannot be trusted. He will vote by mail in November
Trump had complained Tuesday that Democrats were 'playing games' by having their House hearing on the first day of the Republican Convention - after organizing his own week of trying counter-program the Democratic Convention.
The top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security panel seeking DeJoy's testimony called the Postal Service 'a lifeline' to Americans.
'We must ensure they can continue to count on dependable and timely delivery,' said Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich.
Key Republicans are also sounding the alarm.
In the pivotal swing state of Ohio, Attorney General Dave Yost pleaded with Trump to postpone any needed changes to the Postal Service until after Election Day. GOP Sen. Rob Portman and other Republicans in Ohio's congressional delegation urged DeJoy to 'ensure timely and accurate delivery of election-related materials.'
The crisis at the Postal Service has erupted as a major election year issue as DeJoy, a Trump ally who took control of the agency in June, has swiftly engineered cuts and operational changes that are disrupting mail delivery operations and raising alarms among workers.
At the White House, Trump leveled fresh assaults Tuesday on mail-in voting and universal ballots. More Americans than ever are expected to choose to vote absentee this year instead of risking health concerns by voting at polling places during the coronavirus outbreak.
'You can't have millions and millions of ballots sent all over the place, sent to people that are dead, sent to dogs, cats, sent everywhere,' Trump told reporters.
'This isn´t games and you have to get it right,' Trump said.
Trump made clear last week that he was blocking $25 billion emergency aid to the Postal Service, acknowledging he wanted to curtail election mail operations, as well as a Democratic proposal to provide $3.6 billion in additional election money to the states to help process an expected surge of mail-in ballots.
Congress is not in session but Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling the House back to Washington over the crisis at the Postal Service, setting up a political showdown amid growing concerns that the Trump White House is trying to undermine the agency ahead of the election.
The House is expected to vote Saturday on legislation that would prohibit changes at the agency. The package will also include $25 billion to shore up the Postal Service, which faces continued financial losses.
DeJoy and the head of the Postal Service board of governors are also set to testify Monday in the House before the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who sits on that committee and will question DeJoy on Monday, visited the USPS Jamaica station in her congressional district on Tuesday, ahead of the hearing.
'We have to save the Post Office from the President now,' Pelosi said late Monday on MSNBC.
Unpopular move: Social media users have captured images of the USPS removing mailboxes, making what DeJoy says are necessary reforms a lightning rod for Democrats
Personal target: Demonstrators left messages designed to look like absentee ballots outside the upscale condo where DeJoy lives in Washington D.C.
Demands: DeJoy has also been targeted at another of his homes, in Greensboro, North Carolina, and is certain to face fiery questions from Democrats in both the Senate and the House on Friday and on Monday
The Postal Service is among the nation's oldest and more popular institutions, strained in recent years by declines first-class and business mail, but now hit with new challenges during the coronavirus pandemic. Trump routinely criticizes its business model, but the financial outlook is far more complex, and includes an unusual requirement to pre-fund retiree health benefits that advocates in Congress want to undo.
Ahead of the election, DeJoy, a former supply-chain CEO who took over the Postal Service in June, has sparked nationwide outcry over delays, new prices and cutbacks just as millions of Americans will be trying to vote by mail and polling places during the COVID-19 crisis.
Trump on Monday defended DeJoy, but also criticized postal operations and claimed that universal mail-in ballots would be 'a disaster.' He told reporters he wants 'to have a post office that runs without losing billions and billions of dollars a year.''
The decision to recall the House carries a political punch. Voting in the House will highlight the issue after the weeklong Democratic National Convention nominating Joe Biden as the party's presidential pick and pressure the Republican-held Senate to respond. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sent senators home for a summer recess.
McConnell distanced himself Monday from Trump's complaints about mail operations. But the Republican leader also declined to recall senators to Washington, vowing the Postal Service 'is going to be just fine.'
'We´re going to make sure that the ability to function going into the election is not adversely affected,' McConnell said in Horse Cave, Ky. 'And I don´t share the president´s concerns.'
Two Democratic lawmakers have called on the FBI to investigate whether DeJoy or members of the independent Postal Board of Governors may have committed a crime in slowing the mail.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and other Democrats, meanwhile, urged the postal board to use authority under a 1970 law to reverse operational changes put in place last month by DeJoy. If he declines to cooperate, 'you have the authority, under the Postal Reorganization Act, to remove the postmaster general,'' the senators said in a letter to board members.
Congress is at a standoff over postal operations. House Democrats approved $25 billion in a COVID-19 relief package but Trump and Senate Republicans have balked at additional funds for election security. McConnell held a conference call Monday with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and GOP senators on the broader virus aid package.
The Postal Service said it has stopped removing mailboxes and mail-sorting machines following complaints from lawmakers and customers. It said it would stop removing its distinctive blue mailboxes through mid-November.
The legislation set for Saturday's vote, the 'Delivering for America Act,' would prohibit the Postal Service from implementing any changes to operations or level of service it had in place on Jan. 1. The package would include the $25 billion in earlier funds that are stalled in the Senate.
DeJoy, the first postmaster general in nearly two decades who was not a career postal employee, has pledged to modernize the money-losing agency to make it more efficient. He eliminated most overtime for postal workers, imposed restrictions on transportation and reduced of the quantity and use of mail-processing equipment.
Trump said last week that he was blocking emergency aid to the Postal Service, as well as a Democratic proposal to provide $3.6 billion in additional election money to the states to help process an expected surge of mail-in ballots. Both funding requests have been tied up in congressional negotiations over a new coronavirus relief package.
Meanwhile, the Postal Service is seeking a short-term rate increase that would raise prices on commercial domestic competitive parcels, including Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, first-class package service, Parcel Select and Parcel Return Service. The agency cited increased expenses, heightened demand for online packages due to the coronavirus pandemic and an expected increase in holiday mail volume.
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