Trump admitted<\/a> last week that he opposed additional funding for the Postal Service and election security grants because those provisions would help facilitate voting by mail amid the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n

Democratic lawmakers have also expressed concern over efforts by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Trump-appointed Republican donor, to implement substantial operational changes at the agency.<\/p>\n

The restructuring by DeJoy, Democrats allege, has produced backlogs and service interruptions ahead of the November election, when a record number of Americans are expected to vote by mail. <\/p>\n

On Monday, Trump defended DeJoy\u2019s leadership of the Postal Service and criticized the agency as \u201cone of the disasters of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just making it good. We have a very, very good business guy running it, and I want to make \u2014 I jokingly say, but it\u2019s true \u2014 I want to make the Post Office great again, okay?\u201d Trump told Fox News.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been run horribly, and we\u2019re going to make it good,\u201d he added. \u201cNow, what am I supposed to do? Let it continue to run badly? So if you fix it they say, \u2018Oh, he\u2019s tampering with the election.\u2019 No, we\u2019re not tampering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced<\/a> Sunday that she would summon House lawmakers back from their August recess to address what Democrats have described as the Trump administration\u2019s undermining of the Postal Service.<\/p>\n

The president has long claimed without evidence that mail-in voting would have negative political consequences for the Republican Party and would result in widespread election fraud. <\/p>\n

In fact, there is no proof of the type of widespread fraud Trump has alleged, and studies have shown that mail-in voting does not benefit one political party over the other.<\/p>\n

Trump also argued Monday on Fox News that Pelosi\u2019s move to call the House back into session represented an effort by the speaker and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to put pressure on the White House in stimulus negotiations. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a Nancy Pelosi con game with, you know, her associate, Schumer. This is a con game by Pelosi and Schumer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Talks aimed at approving another round of coronavirus relief have been stalled for weeks. House Democrats\u2019 initial funding proposal, passed<\/a> in May, allocated $25 billion to the Postal Service and an additional $3.6 billion for election security funding.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Postal Service has already sent letters to 46 states and Washington, D.C., warning that some ballots might not arrive in time to be counted for the election.<\/p>\n

Despite the president\u2019s remarks Monday, it is unclear whether Trump did indeed order the Postal Service to hasten mail delivery, as some of his past stated directives have been contradicted by his own senior aides.<\/p>\n

After Trump told supporters at a June campaign rally in Tulsa, Okla., that he had ordered the federal government to slow down coronavirus testing, several administration officials sought to walk back the comment.<\/p>\n

Vice President Mike Pence said it was merely a \u201cpassing observation,\u201d White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said it was \u201ctongue-in-cheek,\u201d and White House press secretary Kayleigh said it was \u201cmade in jest.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the president insisted<\/a> days later that he was not joking when he made his controversial statement. \u201cI don\u2019t kid. Let me just tell you. Let me make it clear,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trump admitted last week that he opposed additional funding for the Postal Service and election security grants because those provisions would help facilitate voting by mail amid the coronavirus pandemic. Democratic lawmakers have also expressed concern over efforts by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Trump-appointed Republican donor, to implement substantial operational changes at the agency.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":65448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[110,959],"class_list":{"0":"post-65447","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-after","9":"tag-attacks"},"yoast_head":"\n