Postal Chief DeJoy: Trump Meddling Claim 'Outrageous'

U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said there’s been no attempt by President Donald Trump or his administration to interfere with Postal Service operations in order to thwart voting by mail, as he defended his management of the agency.

DeJoy called allegations that cutbacks at the post office are aimed at having an impact on the November election an “outrageous claim.” He said he’s voted by mail for years and that everyone should be able to do so.

“The American people can feel comfortable that the Postal Service will deliver on this election,” DeJoy said Friday at a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing.

The Postal Service is at the center of political clash between Democrats and Trump over voting and the integrity of the November election. Trump, who is trailing Democrat Joe Biden in pre-election polls, has repeatedly decried the increase in voting by mail and claimed, without evidence, that it’s ripe for fraud.

Democrats have questioned whether recent slowdowns and cutbacks at the post office may be part of an effort to suppress voting. Former Postal Service Board of Governors Vice Chairman David C. Williams said at an informal hearing organized by progressive Democrats on Thursday that Trump sought to turn the Postal Service into a “political tool.” He said that effort was being led by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Under questioning from Democrats on the panel, DeJoy said he never discussed post office operations with Trump or specific policy changes with Mnuchin.

“I will remain independent” of the Trump administration, DeJoy told Senator Thomas Carper, a Delaware Democrat who cited Trump’s objections to voting by mail.

Senator Mitt Romney told DeJoy that it must be “frustrating” to be accused of being accused of letting political considerations guide his management. But the Utah Republican, a critic of Trump, also added a dig at the president.

“Any surprise at such concerns has to be tempered by the fact that the president has made repeated claims that mail-in voting will be fraudulent and that he doesn’t want to get more money to the post office because without more money you can’t have universal mail-in voting,” Romney said.