Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called on Sunday for the House to return to session to pass a standalone bill to fund the U.S. Postal Service and use its oversight powers to investigate operational changes made by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
The state of play: House Democrats will hold a members-only conference call on Monday at 11:30 a.m. to discuss an early return to Washington to respond to "the attack on the Postal Service," Democratic sources tell Axios' Mike Allen.
- Speaker Pelosi raised the idea yesterday on a call with House leaders, where she and others said they have been deluged with complaints about changes being made to the Postal Service under DeJoy.
- "Everyone had a story," a source said.
What he's saying: "Over three months ago, Democrats in the House passed the HEROES bill. And among many other things, it provided $25 billion for the Postal Service. ... Democrats three months ago addressed that," Sanders said on CNN's "State of the Union."
- "Meanwhile, Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Senate, has not attended one of these negotiated sessions. Trump could've gotten on the phone and brought everybody into the White House to work on an agreement. He disappeared."
- "[White House chief of staff] Mr. Meadows, I'm glad he's back at work. He was on vacation last week. We have a crisis now. It's a crisis in democracy. It's a crisis that so many of our working families are struggling. Congress has got to act."
The other side: Meadows said earlier on CNN that President Trump would sign a standalone bill to fund the Postal Service, blaming Democrats for rejecting the administration's offer for $10 billion for the USPS during negotiations for a stimulus package that have since broken down.
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