Pelosi says postmaster has no plans to restore mail cuts

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that President Donald Trump's postmaster general has no intention of restoring mail equipment or funding overtime hours he cut, despite public outcry that operational changes are undermining service before the November election.

Pelosi, D-Calif., said she told Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in phone call that his decision to temporarily pause any further postal operations changes is “wholly insufficient and does not reverse damage already wreaked.”

She said DeJoy “frankly admitted that he had no intention of replacing the sorting machines, blue mailboxes and other key mail infrastructure that have been removed and that plans for adequate overtime, which is critical for the timely delivery of mail, are not in the works.”

Her statement comes as the Postal Service faced more questions and concerns and a federal lawsuit Wednesday over mail delivery disruptions after DeJoy's abrupt decision to postpone any further changes until after the Nov. 3 election.

The delays have stunned Americans and led to warnings that Trump is trying to undermine the Postal Service before a surge of mail-in ballots as voters avoid polling places during the coronavirus pandemic.

Civil and voting rights organizations said Wednesday they are suing to immediately return postal operations to normal.

"We never imagined that we would be in this position with one of the oldest and most trusted institutions in our country,” said Virginia Case of the League of Women Voters.

Case said there was no choice but to sue, even with the reversal by DeJoy on Tuesday. “The damage has been done,” she said. “We need guarantees in place that this will not happen again, prior to the election.”

At the White House, Trump's team has insisted...