The House of Representatives voted to approve funding for the U.S. Postal Service as Democrats accuse the Trump administration of sabotaging the mail service ahead of Election Day.
On Saturday, the House approved 257-150 to send $25 billion in funding to the USPS, as well as block any operational changes that were in place on Jan. 1, 2020, according to CNN. The bill isn't likely to be supported by the Republican-majority Senate.
In her remarks on the floor, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the cost-cutting measures implemented by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy "degrade service, delay the mail and threaten to disenfranchise voters" as more Americans plan to utilize mail-in voting during the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
"Our Postal Service are the beautiful thread that connects our country, delivering sympathy and love, news and knowledge, peace and goodwill," Pelosi, 80, said. "And as a grandmother, I will say, we have seen our children and grandchildren write their letters to Santa. We've seen messages come from the Tooth Fairy. We've seen photos and drawings of families taking joy in each other that no amount of social media can convey."
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a statement after the vote, calling concerns over the White House's connections to the seeming dismantling of the USPS "conspiracy theories."
"Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats have spent weeks ignoring the urgent needs of American workers and families, but they rushed back to Washington the instant that overblown conspiracy theories about the United States Postal Service convinced them their own jobs might be in jeopardy," McConnell, 78, said.
In his statement, McConnell also said the Senate "will absolutely not pass stand-alone legislation for the Postal Service while American families continue to go without more relief."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren wrote on Twitter on Saturday that the House Democrats "are doing their jobs to help fund @USPS & protect it from sabotage." Warren, 71, called on McConnell to "show some political courage & finally stand up to Trump."
Prior to the vote, President Donald Trump tweeted his disagreement with the bill, calling it a "HOAX by the Democrats" to give "unneeded dollars" to the USPS for "political purposes." Pelosi reacted to the tweet, according to NBC News, saying that Trump, 74, "says everything’s a hoax cause he’s a hoax."
The bill was drafted by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, shared new documents that demonstrated "alarming nationwide delays" at the USPS caused by the Postmaster General.
"To those who still claim there are ‘no delays’ and that these reports are just ‘conspiracy theories,’ I hope this new data causes them to re-think their position and support our urgent legislation today," Maloney, 74, said in a statement. "We have all seen the headlines from every corner of our country, we have read the stories and seen pictures, we have heard directly from our constituents, and these new documents show that the delays are far worse than we were told."
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