Ferguson to pursue lawsuit against changes at USPS

Cutting out overtime, dismantling mail sorting machines, removing mailboxes, and no longer treating election mail as first-class mail, even with paid postage.

And halting the processing of outgoing mail at three Washington United States Postal Service distribution centers in Wenatchee, Yakima and Tacoma

Those are among the controversial changes U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has enacted in recent weeks.

On Monday, State Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced that Washington would lead a coalition of states challenging changes they claim threaten mail delivery and could undermine the national election in November.

The suit. joined by Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin, seeks to stop all of the reductions DeJoy has made.

Shortly after Ferguson announced the lawsuit, DeJoy said that he would suspend many of his planned changes until after the November election, assuring the public that “mail processing equipment and blue collection boxes will remain where they are,” that mail processing facilities will no longer be closed, and that overtime for postal workers will be “approved as needed.”

But Ferguson has no plans to stop the lawsuit.

Ferguson accuses DeJoy of acting on behalf of President Donald Trump to compromise the delivery mail-in ballots in November’s presidential election, which the president has claimed without evidence would lead to widespread voter fraud.

“For partisan gain, President Trump is attempting to destroy a critical institution that is essential for millions of Americans,” Ferguson said. “We rely on the Postal Service for our Social Security benefits, prescriptions — and exercising our right to vote. Our coalition will fight to protect the Postal Service and uphold the rule of law in federal court.”