White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany signaled the White House is “open” to meeting the Democrats’ demand for funding for the U.S. Postal Service.
Democrats and Republicans, joined by the White House, have been far apart in negotiations over providing money to the Postal Service as it prepares to accept millions of ballots for November’s election. However, McEnany’s comments during Wednesday’s briefing could signal new life. Republicans have offered to give the USPS $10 billion while Democrats have sought $25 billion, but McEnany said the White House has not ruled out the Democrats’ demand.
“We don’t have a cap. We are certainly open to looking at the $25 billion, but we want included in there, relief for the American people that thus far Speaker Pelosi has been entirely uninterested in, as this president has taken unilateral action to protect Americans subject to evictions, to protect Americans that are unemployed, to protect Americans via a tax cut through payroll deferral,” she said.
McEnany’s comments come shortly after President Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows said there was a chance that the two sides could agree to a narrow deal on a coronavirus aid package, which she also addressed during the briefing.
“What I will say is this, I know the speaker is interested in potentially a skinny bill with post office funding,” McEnany explained. “What we want here at the White House is, we’re certainly open to post office funding. We did, after all, offer that $10 billion that was turned down. So we are open to that. But, what we want to see in there is relief for the American people who are hurt, through no fault of their own, for unemployed Americans, we want to see enhanced unemployment insurance.”
House lawmakers will vote on a bill to provide the $25 billion and also to block Postmaster General Louis DeJoy from implementing service changes that union officials said are slowing mail service on Saturday. Pelosi recalled lawmakers over the weekend ahead of the vote. DeJoy has already announced he would halt any removal of mail sorting machines or mailboxes and other operational changes.
Since DeJoy took over as the postmaster general, he has implemented an array of changes, such as prohibiting overtime and curtailing late trips for mail carriers that ensure on-time delivery. Many Democrats have accused the president and postmaster general of working to prevent mail-in votes from getting counted in the election.
