It has been 26 Days since U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian in Yakima, Washington, issued a nationwide injunction against Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, President Donald Trump, and the U.S. Postal Service over changes implemented since July 2020 when DeJoy took over as USPS Postmaster General. Is PMG DeJoy complying with all court orders?
Judge Bastian responded to a motion for a “preliminary injunction” in a lawsuit from 14 states challenging changes PMG DeJoy made that adversely affected mail delivery nationwide resulting in slowing first class mail, delivery of prescriptions, and potentially slowing delivery of election mail-in ballots.
The 14 states that filed a lawsuit in August against USPS included: Michigan, Washington, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin.
One of the key aspects of the injunction required that DeJoy reinstall 711 mail sorters that were removed since July 2020 and stop forcing USPS mail trucks to leave without mail. There is evidence that DeJoy had mail sorters deliberately ripped out and thrown in the trash instead of trying to find ways to reuse them.
In an article in the Daily Boulder, “Witnesses reported that many of the expensive machines were quickly dismantled and tossed into dumpsters as scrap. The injunction noted that 72% of the ripped out machines were in counties Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election.”
An earlier article in Vice News revealed that there were plans to “hobble mail sorting” by taking out hundreds of mail sorters. By the time Judge Bastian issued his court order on September 17, 2020, USPS had dismantled and/or removed 711 mail sorters!
What has happened since the initial injunction?
Are DeJoy and Justice Department lawyers trying to weasel out of fulfilling all the court orders from Bastian and other judges by asking for “clarification”?
A recent Washington Post article quoted, J. Remy Green, an attorney representing voters who brought a case against USPS to the Southern District of New York:
““Rather than appealing orders they disagree with, the Postal Service seems to be trying to interpret their way out of the various nationwide injunctions having any impact at all,” J. Remy Green, one of the attorneys, said in an interview. “If allowed to continue, that approach — and the resulting shocking drop in service standards — will do grave damage to the right to vote.””
Senator Gary Peters is still concerned about the US Postal Service now run by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy who was a major Trump donor.
Senator Peters on October 9, 2020 released a report following congressional oversight of DeJoy and USPS outlining continuing concerns about how PMG DeJoy is running the US Postal Service that could potentially adversely affect the mail.
Protecting Our US Election from interference:
We are only a few weeks away from our November 3, 2020 Presidential Election. The US Postal Service is an important service for all Americans and needs to be supported by having people in leadership who want to protect its workers from Covid-19 and also ensure that USPS infrastructure is sound to send the mail swiftly to every American and to fulfill its mission. It’s time to recognize that our US Postal Service is a public good that needs full support. We don’t ask the defense department to “show a profit”. Our postal workers are doing everything they can to get the mail to us on time. Yet, political cronies of Mr. Trump, seem to want to harm this important and necessary public institution.
What You Can Do:
Please contact your Senators and Congressmen and Congresswomen and let them know you want the Senate to pass the Heroes Act that provides $25 Billion in needed Covid-19 relief to the USPS and also relief to millions of Americans and small businesses.
The Truth About the Post Office 