Democrats question changes in the Postal Service 2:41
(CNN) - The director general of the United States Postal Service (USPS, for its acronym in English), Louis DeJoy, testifies this Friday in front of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs, led by the Republicans.
The hearing will be the first time DeJoy, a fundraiser and ally of President Donald Trump, will publicly answer questions about recent changes in the United States Postal Service that have sparked public outcry.
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What you need to know
Earlier this month, postal workers across the country sounded alarms about the changes DeJoy had made at the USPS since taking office in June. The changes included cutting overtime and limiting post office hours, which workers said were causing massive delays in deliveries. With millions of Americans expected to vote by mail this November due to the coronavirus, lawmakers from both camps began to worry that this could affect the elections.
While lawmakers began asking questions about the changes, state officials expressed growing concern following letters from the Postal Service to more than 40 states, warning that ballots may not be delivered in time for the election. Around the same time, CNN obtained internal documents showing a reduction plan to eliminate nearly 700 high-volume mail sorters from postal facilities across the country.
And then came the images of iconic blue mailboxes being transported by trucks. DeJoy and some Republicans defended the changes as necessary to combat the Postal Service's dire financial situation, but the Democrats didn't buy it.
The series of changes, along with Trump's battle against voting by mail, has fueled concerns that the Trump administration is using the Postal Service to interfere with the election. DeJoy was named postmaster general by the USPS Board of Governors, which is made up of six members who were appointed by Trump.
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Where are we now?
Republicans were initially bracing for a fight to defend DeJoy and his sweeping changes in the USPS. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, accused Democrats of pushing a "conspiracy theory" about the rule changes, and Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, called it. called a "manufactured crisis."
Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, who oversees the Senate committee that called DeJoy, even said it was giving him a platform to get ahead of next week's hearing, hosted by more "hostile House Democrats." ».
But almost as soon as these Republicans laid the groundwork to go to the canvas for DeJoy, the USPS CEO gave in to Democratic demands and suspended many of the controversial political decisions until after the election. Still, much of the damage has already been done.
Fact checking: Trump and vote-by-mail fraud 3:35Why does that matter?
The hearings unfold as states prepare for a historic election, which will feature more mail-in ballots than any presidential election in American history. A CNN poll, released Tuesday, found that 34% of registered voters said they prefer to vote by mail this year, which would be an increase from the 24% who voted by mail in the 2016 election, according to federal statistics.
As states rush to expand voting by mail, there is a growing partisan division over whether to use this method. In the CNN poll, 53% of supporters of Democratic candidate Joe Biden said they prefer to vote by mail, while 66% of Trump supporters said they prefer to vote in person.
These divisions have been on the horizon in recent days. Trump used social media to criticize mail voting and spread unsubstantiated allegations of widespread fraud. Democrats used their national convention to urge voters to request absentee ballots and praised voting by mail as safe and secure.
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