Top House Democrat introduces bill to counter Trump's "politicization" of USPS
25 August 2020
House Oversight Committee chair Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) introduced a bill on Tuesday designed to counter President Trump's "politicization of the Postal Service" on Tuesday.
Why it matters: The bill follows Postmaster General Louis DeJoy's combative testimony before Maloney's committee on Monday, where he testified that he would not reverse the operational changes that have reportedly caused widespread mail delays ahead of the 2020 election.
- DeJoy, a Republican megadonor and Trump ally, denied that he was seeking to "sabotage" mail-in voting ahead of the election, as Democrats have alleged.
- He previously said he would suspend the changes — which he said were already in motion before he took office — until after the election in order to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.
The state of play: If the bill passes, it would prohibit the Postal Service Board of Governors, the Postmaster General and the Deputy Postmaster General from holding any political position while in office.
- It would also restrict nominees to those who have not engaged in political activities in the four years leading up to their appointment.
What they're saying: "As we heard at our hearing yesterday, both of these officials are longtime Republican operatives, fundraisers, and mega-donors, and they are overt about their efforts to help Donald Trump win in November," Maloney said in a statement, referring to DeJoy and Postal Service Board of Governors Chairman Robert Duncan.
- "In so many areas, including the Postal Service, the Census Bureau, and the Justice Department, President Trump is fundamentally degrading the longstanding independence of our core constitutional functions to his own political ends right before our eyes."
Of note: The House voted on Saturday to give the USPS $25 billion and to block and reverse the operational changes that are leading to widespread mail delays.
- 26 Republicans supported the measure, but the bill is unlikely to move forward after a White House veto threat.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.