The Urgent Need to Protect the Post Office and U.S. Elections: A Message from Rep. Huffman

August 18, 2020

Hello, 

The Postal Service is a pillar of our democracy, enshrined in the Constitution and essential for providing critical services that we all rely on, including delivering prescriptions, Social Security benefits, paychecks, tax returns, and absentee ballots to millions of Americans, including in rural communities that are often underserved. 

This summer, President Trump and his newly installed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy are pushing forward sweeping new operational changes that degrade postal service, delay the mail, and threaten to deny the ability of eligible Americans to cast their votes in the upcoming elections in a timely fashion. The Postal Service itself has warned that voters, even if they send in their ballots by state deadlines, may be disenfranchised in 46 states and in Washington, D.C., by the Postmaster General’s manufactured delays. President Trump has publicly opposed our efforts to strengthen the Postal Service and ensure that ballots can be delivered on time. 

Earlier today I visited the Eureka Post Office to meet with postal workers and investigate impacts of recent operational changes by the Trump administration.  

Rep. Huffman meets with Mike Hetticher, President of the Local American Postal Workers Union, outside the Eureka, CA Post Office

The USPS has always been a vital and valued part of every community in America. Throughout my time in Congress, I have fought to uphold the integrity of the postal service and ensure they can continue to provide regular deliveries at high standards to rural areas. In 2016 and 2018, I introduced the Stop Postal Closures Act, bipartisan legislation to end the misguided closure and consolidations of mail processing facilities across the country. I led the charge against proposed closures of the North Bay Processing and Distribution Center in Petaluma and the Eureka Customer Service Mail Processing Center, because we knew it would lead to disrupted mail delivery, job loss, and damage to local economies. 

I will continue my work to protect the Postal Service against these attacks, and I’m pushing my colleagues in Congress to join me: 

  • This weekend, I will fly to Washington to vote on Oversight and Reform Committee Chairwoman Maloney’s ‘Delivering for America Act,’ which prohibits the Postal Service from implementing any changes to operations or level of service it had in place on January 1, 2020. 

  • I have called for hearings, and on August 24, the Oversight Committee will hear testimony from the Postmaster General, who must answer to the Congress and the American people. 

  • I have written to the Postmaster General to demand answers: including in a letter signed by over 190 House Democrats to the Postmaster calling for a reversal of policies that have worsened the crisis facing the Postal Service and exacerbated a dramatic increase in delayed and undelivered mail. 

  • I also helped lead the recent effort in the House to modernize postal infrastructure, including $6 billion specifically for the purchase of next generation USPS delivery vehicles. 

If you would like to keep up with what I am doing, please subscribe to my newsletter, and follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

Thank you, and stay well.