Postal service battles could also mean delays for those second $1,200 stimulus checks – CNBC

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Capitol Hill lawmakers have been deadlocked on a new stimulus package.

But another issue — sweeping changes to the U.S. Postal Service — now has both parties clashing again.

The crux of the argument: whether changes that would improve the balance sheet of the country’s mail service would deny Americans’ their right to vote and receive stimulus money in the mail.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has called House lawmakers back from summer recess to vote on a bill that would block the changes for now.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats have also expressed concerns about changes initiated by new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

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“Mr. DeJoy appears to be engaged in a partisan effort, with the support of President Trump, to delay and degrade mail service and undermine the mission of the United States Postal Service,” a group of seven Democratic senators wrote in a letter to the USPS Board of Governors.

That includes cutting back hours at some locations, denying overtime pay and eliminating some sorting machines and mailboxes.

The changes threaten Americans’ ability to vote in the election and their access to Social Security, Veterans Affairs and other benefits, as well as prescription medications, the senators said. Signees include Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as well as Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

The letter, however, does not name stimulus checks, another form of payment for which Americans may have to wait.

Congress authorized a first round of stimulus checks with the CARES Act this spring. That included payments of up to $1,200 per individual or $2,400 per married couple, plus $500 per child under age 17 to those who met certain income qualifications.

Source Article from https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/17/postal-service-battles-could-also-delay-next-1200-stimulus-checks.html

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