Six state attorneys general are meeting to discuss the possibility of filing suit against the Trump administration for President Donald Trump’s all-out attack on the U.S. Postal Service, according to the Washington Post:
“Attorneys general from Virginia, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Washington and North Carolina, among others, have begun discussions on how to sue the administration to prevent operational changes or funding lapses that could affect the election. They expect to announce legal action early this week, according to several involved in the talks.”
Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D), noted:
“This is not just terrible policy, but it may be illegal under federal law and other state laws as well. A lot of work is being done literally as we speak over the weekend and at nights to try to figure out what Trump and DeJoy are doing, whether they have already violated or are likely to violate any laws and how we can take swift action to try to stop this assault on our democracy.”
Eric Holder, who served as U.S. Attorney General in the Obama administration and now leads the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, is also considering legal action.
On Sunday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced she would be calling Congress back Washington, D.C. to work on a bill that would provide at least $25 billion in additional funding for the Postal Service and also mandate that no changes be made to post offices that weren’t already in place as of January 1, 2020.
As the November election draws closer, Trump’s handpicked postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, has slashed overtime for most Postal Service employees, pulled sorting machines from dozens of post offices, and even had postal drop boxes removed from some cities, causing alarm that the necessary infrastructure may not be in place to handle the expected increase in absentee ballots that will be cast as many voters seek to stay home due to the ongoing health threat from the novel coronavirus.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) broke with Trump over the weekend on the issue of the Postal Service, remarking:
“The reason the president doesn’t want people to vote by mail is that polls show that people who want to vote by mail tend to vote for Vice President Bide. People who tend to want to vote in-person tend to want to vote for President Trump. So this is a political calculation.”
Featured Image Via NBC News
