this bill does nothing to help the postal service modernize and improve its services. it prevents the postal service from doing anything about its operational issues and subject it to a never-ending string of potential lawsuits. the foundation of it is an absurd conspiracy theory, the new postmaster general in cahoots with donald trump is undertaking some scheme to dismantle the postal service from the inside in order to prevent vote by mail. democratic colleagues will say it was the admission by the president here posts postal service funding in order to block vote by mail funding. i have listened closely to his press conference remarks and that is not what he said. in response to a confused question the president said postal funding and vote by mail state election assistance funding and related to the postal service were part of a larger negotiation around pandemic relief. when asked if he would veto the bill because it had postal funding the president replied no. there has been talk about whether the postal service -- the postal service's own financial show is not i

dejoy, by the postal inspection service. do you know what the postal inspection service is, sir? :: they're saying quote the obama biden democrats and liberals special interest allies are trying to steal the election from republicans. i assume you still believe that about joe biden and the democrats are? >> i have no knowledge of that. >> is in the cnn article that puts you directly. here . and then we have another article from the las vegas sun. it says, again and eroding the letter that democrats the democrats will soon be trying to pad the ballot boxes across the country with voters they do not exist pretty do you still believe that to still be the case . >> when the dates of these letters. >> this article is from the las vegas sun, from 20 oh eight . do you still believe this sentiment. >> i don't believe anyone at this point who's in albany who is trying to steal an election pretty. >> thank you, that would be in contravention of what the president said in a tweet, on august 20th. their trying to steal his selection of the democrats. >> there are lots of false premises about

postal service. not business. service. for every american. no matter how remote they live they can get mail. they can get their prescriptions, they can have a small business in powers, oregon, pretty remote from everything and use the postal service. you can't have it bothwayings, guys, the postal service doesn't have a problem. wait a minute. dejoy is making these cuts because he says it has a revenue problem. he's prohibited overtime because they have a revenue problem. they can't move their delivery vehicle more than four times on a route. eight-mile long route? you going to walk two miles each way? guess what, mail is getting delayed across the country. the fact is, before a pandemic they were breaking even or making money if we did away with the stupid prefunding of 75 years of health care that was put in in the dark of the night by the bim in a lame duck congress. and 309 people in this house, including 87 republicans, voted for that in february, but it hasn't happened. you can't have it both w

postal service. which is our connection to each other. our wonderful governor of virginia knows that whatever rumor would come that they would close the postal office somewhere in virginia, all hell would break loose. people realized that is a connection to the rest of the country, the rest of their friends. let's do everything we possibly can to reverse those, not just to make sure every vote is counted, but make sure the american system, the american democracy is preserved through our postal service. with that, let me give you the distinct member of congress person -- congresswoman of virginia. >> i was elected to represent the people of virginia's 10th congressional district. while i was horrified at the changes to the postal i do in thesewhat situations, which is i went to my constituents to find out what they thought. so we sent out a brief survey to our list of constituents. up., our email inbox blew in a matter of hours, we heard back from over 3000 constituents who shared their stories. i heard from a woman who was in -- whose 95-y

as a nation, the people transformed the postal service, the post office into the postal service. this history lesson resonates today. yet another reckoning for the country and the postal service, here again, the people of the nation have stood up loudly, and consistently to condemn attempts to turn a crown jewel of our federal government by far the most trusted agency among the hundreds that served this nation into a spoil systems honey pot. we cannot and must not let that happen. during this pandemic the postal service is a lifeline to the delivery of life saving prescription medications, medical equipment, food and pantry staples, stimulus checks to pay rent, utility bills, census forms, and even simply coupons to help struggling families stay out of poverty. what leader would think even the possibility of slowing down mail in a time such as this is a good idea? what leader would take steps to freeze over time, for a workforce risking its life, every day, to deliver mail to the people of this nation? 40,000 postal workers have contracted covid-19 or been quarantined because of

but they want it for the postal service. service made a public request, and they requested it and presented it to the board of governors who are appointed by president trump and board approved it unanimously. that is far more than all these entities that we've given billions of dollars to did. the postalld support service now. it, the c.b.o. came out with an estimate that this money would be spent in the next fiscal year and that they need it and i ask unanimous c.b.o. record the into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. i now loney: and recognize the distinguished mfuma. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> i heard remarks that can't go unaddressed. to say that eman democrats, the majority party ere in the house, are the greatest threat to american democracy that the world has known, that means we are more threatening than putin and he russians, more threatening this terrible pandemic, this is something i would side to say from the other side. mfume: we are here to have discussion and t

the postal service not a dime. on august 18 that bmg announced he would put a hold on some of these sweeping operational changes but his announcement did not come into reversing the customer service and capacity already made. they did not include an agenda to support mail that devastates a commitment to helping the postal service to fill aa stork role in the upcoming election. and lastly the pmg is still not advocating for additional funding for the postal service, despite the fact that the republican-controlled trump appointed board of governors unanimously called for that package. not a democratic idea, a republican dominated board unanimously. the reason operational and organizational changes mr. dejoy has made may dash asa chairwoman just showed. those are not our data. that's yours, mr. postmaster general. these delays of real impacts on real lives with real consequences. most devastatingly, the damage to the postal service is credibility. in the very brief time, congratulations, mr. dejoy. and esteemed institu

postal service favorably. than the centers for disease control, the census bureau, the health and human services, department of homeland security, federal reserve and irs. americans viewed the u.s. postal service in a favorable manner. once again, this is back from april. the government agencies, the postal service is viewed the most favorable by the majority of the public. let's go back to our phone lines and talk to kimberly, calling from new york. good morning. caller: good morning. i just had two things. i'm not sure why the postal service needs to make money. i do not know how much the fda brings in for us. the second thing is, you know, the biggest logistics contractor for the postal service is xpl. louis dejoy owns $30 million worth of stock because it used to be his company in xpl. i think it is obvious he was going to benefit if the postal service has to be privatized. huge amounts of donations for the republican bought his spot as the postmaster general. it is more criminality via the republicans. tha

very important and timely and we want to see our postal service work and work well. let me just give a shout-out to david janus who is our letter carrier and to all the letter carriers and postal workers because i think during this pandemic, they're more appreciated than ever. so the men and women who lead, mr. dejoy, please pass along to them our thanks. i like having this hearing now because i think there's been a lot of misinformation out there and i like getting to the facts. one of the facts i have learned this morning is you started 67 days ago and much of what we're talking about in the media at least including the blue boxes and the sorting machines, you know, that happened before you got there. and it was part of a plan under the former postmaster general who came up through the ranks, not a political person at all. and anyway, that's helpful to know that's what's going on and it's helpful to know that you were appointed by the postal board of governors and that that's a bipartisan group. in fact, we confirmed the people and it was an unanimous selection. i g

but they want it for the postal service. service made a public request, and they requested it and presented it to the board of governors who are appointed by president trump and board approved it unanimously. that is far more than all these entities that we've given billions of dollars to did. the postalld support service now. it, the c.b.o. came out with an estimate that this money would be spent in the next fiscal year and that they need it and i ask unanimous c.b.o. record the into the record. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. i now loney: and recognize the distinguished mfuma. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. >> i heard remarks that can't go unaddressed. to say that eman democrats, the majority party ere in the house, are the greatest threat to american democracy that the world has known, that means we are more threatening than putin and he russians, more threatening this terrible pandemic, this is something i would side to say from the other side. mfume: we are here to have discussion and t

all of us want to see our postal service work and work well. and let me just give a shout-out to david janice who is our letter carrier and to all the letter carriers and all the postal workers because i think particularly during this pandemic, they are more appreciated than ever. and so the men and women who you lead, mr. dejoy, please pass along to them our thanks. i like having this hearing now because i think there's been a lot of misinformation out there. and i like getting to the facts. one of the facts i've learned this morning is that you started 67 days ago. and much of what we've been talking about in the media at least, including the blue boxes and the sorting machines, you know, that happened before you got there. and it was part of a plan. i knew the former postmaster general. she came up through the ranks. not a political person at all. and anyway, that's helpful to know that that's what's going on. it's also help to know you were appointed by the postal board of governors and that's a bipartisan group. in fact, we confirmed those

the postal service, this is an assault on our democracy. these actions call into question whether legal ballots will be counted in states across the country. no wonder there has been such immense public outcry. we see thousands of inquiries in my district office on this issue. the postmaster general doesn't help us. he said nothing about reinstalling the boxes and putting back the machines that disappear and has said nothing about the need for additional resources for the postal service. we have learned through subsequent conversation with the speaker of the house the postmaster general has no intention of undoing what he has done. we cannot trust this administration. the pledge to hold anymore changes until election day, i read a disturbing report of a sorting machine being removed from the post office in grand rapids. my colleagues know this was decided in the last presidential campaign. participation will only increase. there is no rationale for this unless you want fewer ballots counted. we should be encouraging every eligible american

the postal service, not a dime. on august 18th the pmg announced he would put a hold on some of these sweeping operational changes, but his announcement did not commit to reverting the cuts to service and capacity already made. it did not include an agenda to support election mail that demonstrates a commitment to helping the postal service fulfill its historic role in the upcoming election and the pmg is still not east coasting for the additional funding for the postal service despite the fact that the republican controlled trump-appointed board of governors unanimously called for that package. not a democratic idea, a republican-dominated board unanimously recommendingterm the reason organizational and operational changes mr. dejoy has made has resulted in delivery delays across the country as the chairwoman just showed. that's not our data. that's yours, mr. postmaster general. these delays have real impacts on real lives with real consequences, most devastatingly the damage the postal service's credibility in a v

it is completely unfair to the postal service or voters to jam that much mail onto the system. eral proposition, the good news is both the postal unions and the postal service itself has said they have more than enough capacity to deliver mail, but the thing we need to keep an eye on is covid and whether it will deplete the postal service workforce. that can be disruptive. alix: house speaker nancy pelosi is calling back the house to deal with the postal service issued. what does that mean? kevin: it looks to me quite frankly a lot more like a political stunt. the senate, certainly, has not agreed to come back, and moreover they have not agreed upon even what the problem is to be addressed. if so, this seems like election-year gamesmanship. it is clearly an issue that democrats can run with. alix: run with him what way? do they want it to become a problem? i am trying to work out the realities from the rhetoric. kevin: the reality is that the postal service will be just fine delivering the mail throughout this year, including the election mail, but democrats will be able to take

the postal service not a dime. on august 18 that bmg announced he would put a hold on some of these sweeping operational changes but his announcement did not come into reversing the customer service and capacity already made. they did not include an agenda to support mail that devastates a commitment to helping the postal service to fill aa stork role in the upcoming election. and lastly the pmg is still not advocating for additional funding for the postal service, despite the fact that the republican-controlled trump appointed board of governors unanimously called for that package. not a democratic idea, a republican dominated board unanimously. the reason operational and organizational changes mr. dejoy has made may dash asa chairwoman just showed. those are not our data. that's yours, mr. postmaster general. these delays of real impacts on real lives with real consequences. most devastatingly, the damage to the postal service is credibility. in the very brief time, congratulations, mr. dejoy. and esteemed institu

provides in the postal service determines that there should be a change in the nature of the postal service's which generally affect service on a nationwide were substantially ptionwide basis, it shall set it a proposal within a reasonable time prior to the effective date of such proposal so the postal rate of three commission requesting an advisory opinion on the change. now you have agreed with me in the previous questions that this has been a change that has substantial nationwide basis. it generally affect the postal services and it's a change in the nature of the service it generally affects a nationwide substantial basis. have you submitted the request for an advisory commission? >> the request for an advisory opinion on asking the organization to adhere to the transportation schedule doesn't require -- >> i didn't as >> i didn't ask about the transportation schedule, i asked to -- >> if i may finish my statement, i will let you finish yours. when a postal service determines there should be a change in the nature of postal service is, which generally affect service on a nationwide basis

postal service. if you plan to continue pursuing these kinds of changes, i think my colleagues and many of our constituents will continue to question whether you are the right person to lead this indispensable institution. thank you. >> it is the tradition of this committee to swear in witnesses. mr. dejoy, raise your right hand. do you swear the testimony you give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you god? postmaster dejoy: i do. >> thank you. mr. dejoy has served as postmaster general, and you spent more than 35 years developing and managing a successful nationwide logistics company as chairman and ceo of new breeze logistics. beginning in 2014, mr. dejoy served as the ceo of xpo logistics and after his retirement in 2015, he joined the company's board of directors where he served until 2018. mr. dejoy. postmaster dejoy: good morning, chairman, ranking member peters, and members of the committee. thank you chairman johnson for calling this hearing. i am proud to

multiple news agencies have now obtained internal documents from the postal service that show that, yes, they are pulling more than 670 bulk sorting machines out of postal facilities all over the country. as "the washington post" puts it today, these machines are mostly being pulled from, quote, high population areas, which translates in electoral terms, of course, to places where democrats live. after local press around the country started to discover this had been notification letters from the postal service to individual states warning them that the post office under louis dejoy doesn't plan to get ballots in in time to be counted under the time frames that states have set up for voters this fall, "the washington post" was first to report today that it's actually 46 states and d.c. that have received these notices from the postal service, effectively saying, we don't plan to get voters' ballots in on time to be counted. you, 46 states and d.c., you better figure something else out. these plans that you have for vote by mail, we don't think they're going to work. the slowdowns in the

postal service. but in less than two months, you have undermined one of our nation's most trusted institutions, and wreaked havoc on families, on veterans, seniors, rural communities and on people all across our country. the operational changes you implemented without consulting with your customers or the public have caused significant delays. delays that have hurt people across the nation, that come at a time when people depend on reliable service now more than ever. in july, i started hearing reports about how severely your changes were slowing down the mail. i asked you for answers, but it was not until i launched an investigation that you admitted that you had directed these changes yourself. despite multiple requests, it took more than one month to respond directly. i am still not satisfied with those explanations. you have brushed off these delays, calling them "inevitable , a side effect of your vision for the postal service." let me tell you but the people forced to bear the brunt of your dec

postal service. they're demanding the post master general testify before an emergency session to explain a series of major sweeping policy changes that are slowing down the mail and to the point it the could impact the u.s. election. removal of letter boxes in several states, dismantling the mail equipment, closing post offices early and cutting overtime pay to postal workers. president trump very strongly does not want widespread mail-in viting insisting it will lead to chaos and voter fraud. just this weekend he said a mail-in election would take, in his words, months or years to get an accurate vote count, even though nothing, nothing, exists to support that assertion. house leaders haven't decided yet to take the rare move coming back from capitol hill early from summer recess but looking at next week to put postal officials under oath and try to get some answers. go to the white house right now. our white house correspondent john hardwood joins us. along with everything else i mentioned a money

i can't say that. >> you once worked on the postal service. with elijah cummings. how are we still here three and a half years later? mark: that is my biggest disappoint. i know every stakeholder as a comes to the postal issue. many of them, i can still call today and many of them are my friend. -- my friends. but i have seen is taking an issue that we can't solve, that this president wants us all, that i want to solve, that i wanted to stop and i was a member of congress, and we politicized it to a point where i am concerned it may not be solvable, based on the rhetoric. ofconversation to a number colleagues, republicans and democrats that i used to work with on this particular issue, is postal reform was never on my bucket list as a member of congress. when i was sworn in, i didn't say put me on how we are going to figure out how to fix the postal system. and yet, some of the hardest working people i can do no knowdy met -- i came to are the men and women who process the mail and deliver the mail, whether in urban or rural areas. we need to find a way to fix that.

the united states postal service is exactly that. e public schools, designed to meet a societal need. in fact it's such an important service that it's specifically ename rated in the united states constitution, written in by the founders who understood a strong postal service was critical to the nation's infrastructure. the postman's oath is, quote, neither -- right now it's not dark of night that's keeping them from the appointed rounds, not even coronavirus, which has turned postal workers into frontline workers. they can't work from home, and that is what -- that's not even preventing mail from getting to your home. president trump and the unqualified megadonor is. this is not the first time that republicans have tried to destroy the post office. they've been after the postal service since long before donald trump took office. in the period after the med term elections of 2006 and the swearing in of the new congress in 2007, republicans passed and president george w. bush signed a law that made the postal service prefund 75 years o

postal service, the board of governors of the postal service. they are a board that are bipartisan and 100% appointed by president donald trump. and they recommended the $25 billion. actually, they recommended more, which we will have in other bills. so that's part of this legislation. it is also necessary for us to have this legislation because in my conversations with the postmaster general, which were most unsatisfactory, he said he had no intention of restoring the post office boxes that were removed. no intention of restoring the sorting machinery in the postal services and other infrastructure very essential to keeping the mail on time. and when i suggested that we have the ballots in the election treated as first class mail, he had no intention of doing that, but if it was in the bill, he would. he's now saying that he will. but to make sure that that happens because his comments are one thing, his actions will be another. and that's why we have this legislation. we'll be talking about it on the floor. our distinguished chair, carolyn mal

>> absolutely. >> and does unplanned overtime hinder the postal service's ability to stay financially viable? >> absolutely. >> you know, my husband and i have experienced some very, very inefficient services on the part of the post office in the last few weeks and i'm not going to go into those details, but i want to applaud your approach to accountability, and what we know from our colleagues on the other side of the aisle is they run away from accountability in every case in the federal government or in allied services like the post office, so let me applaud you for pushing on accountability. mr. dejoy, as we're all aware the postal service is not a government agency that receives appropriations. the in fact, it is law. the postal reorganization act of 1970 created the u.s. postal service as an independent and self-sustaining entity. postmaster general dejoy, do you believe it is your duty to uphold this law and ensure that the usps is self-sufficient? >> i do. and what will it take to make the usps self-sufficient? >> legislation with regard to our health care and medicaid integra

vice has now obtained documents showing that the postal service is taking more than 500 delivery bar code sorters out of service. in addition to more than 100 other major pieces of key sorting equipment. they're all just being decommissioned, being taken offline. again, not just turned off or unplugged but taken away. even though the postal service had previously said it was moving equipment around its network to optimize processing, what this document shows is that they really are just getting rid of this stuff altogether, they're not moving it to other places to use it somewhere else they're just getting rid of it. "multiple sources within the postal service told vice news they have personally witnessed the machines which cost millions of dollars being destroyed or thrown in the dumpster." postal workers have unions. union officials have said the results of these plans was clear. "this will slow mail processing." the story is now getting bigger by the hour. but i have to tell you, this part of the story about what the trump administration is doing to the post office on purpose in ad

postal service. we have also responded to the unanimous request of the trump administration appointed postal board of governors for $25 billion in much needed emergency operational relief. for over 200 years, neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night have stayed these courors from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. let it not be on our watch that legacy ends. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlelady yields. for what purpose does the the gentlewoman from north carolina rise? ms. foxx: thank you, madam speaker. i ask unanimous consent to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, the gentlewoman is recognized for one minute. ms. foxx: thank you, madam speaker. 10 years ago the bluffs restaurant, a wonderfully historic establishment on the blue ridge parkway in the fifth district closed its doors. today it's reopening thanks to over 500 donors who contributed more than $1 million for repairs. in 1949 the bluffs was the first restaur

postal service. to start by thinking the postmaster general first for making himself available on such short notice, and for taking on the thankless task of trying to maintain the u.s. postal service as a financially viable entity. unfortunately, we have found out over the past few weeks that not only is it a thankless task that has already been subject to character assassination, as democrats have put him in the crosshairs of another hyperbolic false narrative perpetrated to gain political advantage. i hope we can stick to the facts in this hearing today. one fact that needs to be highlighted as part of the false narrative is the postmaster general is not appointed by president trump. the bipartisan poster board of governors engaged the professional search firm that identified him as an outstanding candidate with the necessary background and skill set to tackle the enormous challenges facing the postal system. the bipartisan governors unanimously approved his appointment as postmaster general. mr. d

, a postal service. so when people say it does not pay its own way, it is not a business, it is a service. while we want to subject every dollar to the scrutiny of what we are getting for it, let us remember that it is a service. no business i can think of what ever be saddled with what we have done to the postal service, passed-- in 2006 a bill saying the postal service should pay 75 years of its health benefits and 10 years. 75 years of its health benefits in 10 years. that is a responsibility i don't meet most businesses could and also come out on top. earlier this year, mr. defazio put forth a bill to limit what that is. when they say it doesn't pay -- we had to do these cuts and those cuts -- we are cutting service. not weak, but the new postmaster general. so we have called our members back for legislation that allocates the resources, $25 billion, that were recommended by the board of governors at the postal service. a board thatrd -- is bipartisan and 100% appointed by president donald trump, and

we lost two brave postal service. jonathan kersine and morris in the facility at d.c. from anthrax inhalation. for the good of the country, the postal unions continued to send their members into the post office to do their job to keep the country running. two weeks ago, after you've been postmaster for a few weeks, that all changed. the middle of a pandemic that killed 170,000 americans, and on the eve of a national election, at a time when the cdc is advising people not to gather, limit outside contact, the postal service started removing 671 high-speed mail sorting machines across the country. you stopped the a pvrks pwu fro sorting and stopped overtime to deliver the mail. for the first time in 240 years in our history of the united states postal service, you sent out a letter, embarrassingly, in july to 46 states that said, "the post office can't guarantee that we can deliver the mail in time for the elections in november." we have reports from across the country as you acknowledge, service has been delayed and the mail is piling up. you have ended a once proud trad

postal service, don. just hours after we reported this story, all of a sudden, now, they are saying that these collection boxes will remain, at least in the western region, which comprises about a dozen states. but the question is what's going to happen in other states? you know, we've actually obtained photos that show some of these collection boxes in a storage area, in the bronx. some of them, even behind chains. so the question is, you know, as we go into this election, we're -- we're less than three months out from it. we're expecting a just rush of mail-in ballots. millions of people probably voting by mail. the u.s. postal service is going to be more crucial, than ever. why, all of a sudden, are they removing thousands of these blue collection boxes that you see on the street from states all across the country? tonight, they say that they won't remove them in the western states. about 16 states that they're going to halt this removal. but what happens in the rest of the country? you know, this is s

postal service. that we all rely on pr bills and prescriptions. to communicate with loved ones. including representative democracy. right? trump plans to win reelection and it's looking more and more like he will do whatever it takes to get there. you see what the out rage people who were so upset in the western states. do you see the power they had? they complained. they were upset. democrats and republicans. people across the board. and stopped the removal in the western states. you have the power. you have the power. speak out. i want to get to the former president of the united states obama. sounding a warning tonight for the second time in two weeks. >> the single thing that i'm moes concerned about between now and november, it is that we do everything humanly possible to ensure that everybody who wants a change in administration actually registers that change at the ballot box. whether that is in person or mail in voting. what we have never seen before is a president say i'm going to try to act

postal service. effectively saying, we don't plan on getting ballots in, in time, to be counted. these plans that you have for vote by mail. we don't think they're going to work. the slowdowns in the mail, already, are having a material effect on people's lives. just anecdotally, i will tell you. you know, we've set up this website www.sendittorachel.com. that means we get a lot of feed back from you guys, twitter messages, voicemails, all the different ways that you guys are able to get in touch with us. i have never asked for any viewer feedback on this subject. but anecdotally, here at the show, we have been sort of flooded with unsolicited accounts. people wanting us to know that their prescriptions are arriving late. their bills are getting to them late, and/or their payments of their bills are being delayed when they send them back in the mail. so people are getting late fees from paying their various bills. and, in some cases, that's messing with their credit ratings. small business owners, wh

postal service workers i talked to dispute that. kimberly carroll, the head of the iowa postal workers union. she had one of those machines removed recently. she said, of course if you remove them you decrease capacity. she says there's delays now in that region because of that remove. dejoy was also asked about cuts to overtime. he said neither he or leadership have instituted overtime cuts. every postal employee i've talked to coast to coast disputes that. dejoy says all i've mandated is that the trucks leave on time. one of the reasons the delays exist, i'm told, is because the trucks are leaving on time and in many cases, craig, the trucks are empty because there are not the staffers to put mails in the trucks because of the cuts to overtime. so on monday's hearing i think you'll hear house democrats, if they are up to the job and ask informed and focused questions, i think they'll press him on that and also press him on how it is that dejoy got this job because there are yes, sir about the undue influence by secretary mnuchin an

postal service. members of the house rules committee met on friday to consider the bill called the delivering for america act introduced by oversight and reform chair carolyn maloney. it provides $25 billion in funding to the postal service and returns service levels to those at the beginning of 2020. the rules committee voted to send this legislation to the house floor for debate. >> the rules committee will come to order. we are here today because this president has thrown our democracy further into chaos. we are just weeks away from early voting in some states. the record number of ballots are expected to be asked by mail. -- are expected to be cast by mail. sorting machines are disappearing. delivery has been slowed. the postalle, service is still badly in need of additional resources. the house acted to provide more but nothinghs ago has been done. , this isy this clearly an assault on democracy. these actions call into question whether legal ballots will be counted in states across the country.

i have a plan for the success of the postal service. i believe a six-day week delivery is an important aspect and strength to service. our pieces per delivery are down to three now, from six or seven. our goal is to get that back up. if you look on the chart and look at where our reach is on a daily basis, it was impressive. costs downdrive our -- this is well-known -- we need to drive our costs out of the network, get efficiency into our network. that is success, along with legislative help, that will be the future success for the postal service as we face the new economy. sen. scott: in your business life, did you have to perform for your customer? did you have to be on time and were you able to do that? postmaster dejoy: sir, our contracts had 99.98% performance metrics on everything we did, yes. i think that the attitude and the energy and the design is here at the postal service to do that. i think we haven't had the alignment and the expectation of iat, and that is something [indiscernible]. personally are you committed to doing ev

postal service. under new leadership from trump ally and donor louis dejoy the u.s. postal service announced it will be instituting a management hiring freeze and buyouts. the moves are exactly the kind of thing democrats on the hill have asked the usps not to do. >> i am proud of our postal workers across america. they got a hand tied behind their back with this new leadership. >> reporter: toot dradz led by senator elizabeth warren called for the inspector general to investigate operation allege changes at the usps. >> we have little faith they're not trying to politicize the post office. >> the usps says measures were to cut costs. the unions say it's a slowing of the mail and could impact vote by mail in the fall, something the post master general denies. >> despite associations to the contrary, we are not slowing down election mail or any other mail. >> reporter: in their letter the lawmakers say the postal service has become a political football and describe the congressional requests as quote

postal service document which reveals plans to remove 671 high volume mail processing machines from postalacilities across the country. the agency told nbc news in a statement that these are simply part of normal business adjustments. of course this is all happening amid escalating fears that the president and the postmaster general, louis dejoy, a trump donor and political ally, are political sizing the agency to help trump win the election or at a minimum, to sow doubt about the results if he loses. president trump has acknowledged he is blocking funding to the post office in an attempt to halt mail-in voting. he does not pretend it's something else. two sources confirmed to nbc news that dejoy met with the president in the oval office last week which means president trump misled reporters two days ago when he claimed he hadn't spoken to dejoy. how often do presidents and postmaster generals have one-on-ones in the oval office in previous administrations? just ask yourself that. a recent memo from the post mastery acknowledged that cutbacks have resulted in, quote, unintended consequence

and an attack on our postal service and in it and attempt to dismantle our postal service out of a selfish desire to sabotage our democracycy and maintain a ip on power is an attack on alall of us. amy:y: the u.s. reportrted anotr 43,000 coronavirirus caseses and more than 131300 deaths from covivid-19 on tuesday, bringing the officicial u.s. death toll o neararly 172,000. in indiana, the university of notre dame canceled all in-person classes and said it would move to online-only instruction after it confirmed 80 new coronavirus cases linked to an off-campus party where students refused to wear masks or praractice socialal distanci. meanwhilile, the los angngeles unified school district on tuesday announced ambitious plans to test about 600,000 stududents and 75,000 employeees ahead of their eventual return to in-person classes. the universities and colleges around the united states have moved to online classes after beginning in person because of outbreaks. "t"the new york times" reports e number of knowown deathshs from covid 19 at u.s. prisons and jails has topped 1000. in arizona, a g

by the postal service?id i mention that nearly 100% of veterans' prescriptions come through the postal service? you probably know of people writing to santa or birthday cards being exchanged and the rest. i know much of it is electronic these days, but not all of it. and actually come in rural america, the postal service is highly depended on. they have not ever like the postal service because they always want to find a way to make money off of something and they wanted privatize. but now at the time of a pandemic, you would think they would have a little sensitivity. but so obsessed are they to undermine absentee voting that this is their connection there. so the president says he's not putting up any money for absentee voting and he is not putting up any money for the postal service, undermining the health of our democracy. the money for the election that is in the bill is not just about absentee ballots. it's about -- it is a reason to vote by mail because you don't have to spend money and hours and have

all of us want to see our postal service work and work well. let me just give a shout-out to david janice our letter carrier and all the postal workers. i do think particularly during this pandemic they are more appreciated than ever. the men and women who you lead, mr. dejoy, please pass along to them our thanks. i like having this hearing now because i think there has been a lot of misinformation out there and i like getting to the facts. one of the facts i've learned this morning is that you started 67 days ago and much of what we've been talking about in the media at least including the blue boxes and the sorting machines, that happened before you got there and it was part of a plan under the former postmaster general that came up through the ranks, not a political person at all. anyway, that's helpful to know that's what's going on and helpful to know you were appointed by the postal board of governors and that's a bipartisan group. we confirm those people. it was a unanimous selection based on your being a logistics expert and just hearing

postal system. there isn't agency which i can make that claim. it is a service -- postal service. when people say, well, it doesn't pay its own way, it is not a business, it is a service. while we also want to subject every federal dollars to scrutiny, let us remember that it is a service. no business that i can think of whatever be saddled with what we have done to the postal service, saying that they -- in 2006 a bill passed that said the postal service should pay 75 years of its health benefits in 10 years. 75 years of its health benefits in 10 years. responsibility that i don't think most businesses could meet. on also come out with -- top. earlier this year mr. defazio put forth appeal -- a bill to limit what that is. when they say it doesn't pay, we had to do these cuts, and those cuts -- we are cutting service. we are cutting service. new postmasterhe general. we have called our members back for legislation that allocates the resources -- $25 billion -- that were recommended by the u.s. postal service, the board of governors of the postal service. they are a board that are b

i talked to postal service workers, to postal service local union presidents and they all say across the board, they're up to the job, they can handle the volume, the capacity. what's causing the delays is a different issue entirely and they all point to the policy changes and budget cuts put in place by the new postmaster general, louis dejoy who before he came postmaster general was a top republican donor, a prolific trump donor and who had no postal service before he was tapped to lead the agency. the people i talked to say he views the postal service not as a service, but a business. he's making these changes, he says, to make cuts and make the organization more solvent, but that is what's causing the delays and if they don't change will cause a lot of confusion and across the board disenfranchisement come election day. >> what about the reports about the sorting machines being remove from a variety of large cities? is that because they want, you know, to lower the capacity for these precincts potentially to be able to count those mail-in ballots? >> so this is an interesting que

that's a huge amount of pressure on the postal service. saw an egregious example of that in the june primary where new york city, this poor postal facility had an election administrator show up and dump 30,000 ballots on them the day before the election -- or absentee ballot request forms. that's the situation setting up the postal service to fail. it's not fair and we need to do something to fix that. and disenfranchising folks besmirching the postal service. check out the work of our guest at their website. ,hank you for talking with us especially as this hearing is about to take place. you can see that at 9:00, just any moment really, on c-span. another hearing this coming monday on the same topic. go to our website for more information as well as information on the upcoming republican national convention. that's our program today, another program tomorrow. we will see you then. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright nat