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Democratic lawmakers say the Trump administration is sabotaging the United States Postal Service ahead of the November election, when a record number of votes are expected to be cast by mail. Since taking office, U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy a major Trump donor has instituted a number of cost-cutting measures that have slowed down the delivery of mail, and overhauled the leadership of the agency in a move that critics say will give him more power. This comes as President Trump continues to attack mail-in voting, claiming the post office can't handle an increase in ballots.
We speak with Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, and David Dayen, executive editor of The American Prospect and author of the new book, "Monopolized: Life in the Age of Corporate Power."
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, The Quarantine Report. I'm Amy Goodman.
Democratic lawmakers in Washington are accusing the Trump administration of sabotaging the United States Postal Service ahead of November's election, when a record number of votes are expected to be cast by mail. On Friday, the nation's new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy shook up the leadership of the agency in a move that critics say will give DeJoy more power. Twenty-three Postal Service executives were reassigned or fired in the restructuring.
Prior to becoming postmaster general, DeJoy was a top Republican donor. He had donated more than $1.2 million to the Trump Victory Fund and had been in charge of fundraising for the 2020 Republican National Convention.
Since taking office, DeJoy has instituted a number of cost-cutting measures that have slowed down the delivery of the mail. There's now a days-long backlog of mail across the United States. This comes as President Trump continues to attack mail-in voting, claiming the post office can't handle an increase in ballots. Democratic Congress-member Gerry Connolly of Virginia accused DeJoy of engaging in, quote, "deliberate sabotage to disrupt mail service on the eve of the election." Democratic Congressman Peter DeFazio of Oregon criticized restructuring of the agency.
REP. PETER DEFAZIO: Today we had the Friday night massacre. He fired all the senior service postal executives, the people who have run the day-to-day operations of the post office. This is nothing less than Donald Trump and his political cronies trying to steal the election by blocking or delaying vote-by-mail. Trump has sued states to try and block vote-by-mail. That won't work. But he's going to try and stop the mail from being delivered. This is outrageous.
AMY GOODMAN: Meanwhile, Senator Elizabeth Warren has co-written a letter urging the Postal Service inspector general to investigate the changes implemented by DeJoy. Warren also inquired about the financial holdings of DeJoy and his wife, Aldona Wos, President Trump's nominee to be ambassador to Canada. The couple holds as much as $75 million in assets in competitors or contractors of the Postal Service, according to a financial disclosure filed by Wos.
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