Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is testifying before the House Oversight Committee on Monday. Right off the bat, he corrected conspiracy theories that suggested he's helping to rig the November general election to help President Trump's re-election.
"There are many inaccuracies about my actions that I wish to again correct," DeJoy said. "First, I did not direct the removal of blue collection boxes, or the removal of mail processing equipment. Second, I did not direct the cutback on hours at any of our post offices. And finally, I did not direct the elimination or any cutback in overtime."
He did, however, "suspend these practices to remove any misperceptions" about our commitment to delivering election results.
"Any further assertions by the media or elected officials is furthering a false narrative to the American people," DeJoy said.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy corrects the record on the Democrats’ false narratives about USPS pic.twitter.com/aLHQ2AX4Xx
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) August 24, 2020
Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the ranking member on the committee, offered DeJoy an assist by uprooting some of those same Democratic talking points.
Rep. James Comer deconstructs false Democrat talking points on the Postal Service and corrects the record pic.twitter.com/P0MExPZLzj
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) August 24, 2020
"The blue boxes and mail sorters were both components of longstanding programs in response to significant reduction in mail volume," Comer explained. "A thirty three percent reduction over the past 15 years."
By the way, Comer wondered, where was this sudden concern when Obama was president? Under his watch, 12,000 blue mailboxes were removed because they were sitting idle and simply taking up floor space. And yet, "we didn't hear one word from the other side when he did that."
Both DeJoy and Comer reiterated the fact that the Postal Service is more than capable of handling mail in ballots this fall and that the Democrat-led emergency funding bill that passed on Friday was highly unnecessary.
"If anybody in the U.S. requested ballots via mail, that's still less than one day's average volume," Comer reasoned.
Tensions over the voting process are sky high at the moment. On Sunday evening, protesters marched outside of DeJoy's Washington, D.C. home. As for that $25 billion "emergency" funding bill for the USPS, it is unlikely to pass the Senate. And even if it did, President Trump will be ready with the veto.