Pelosi and McConnell Trade Barbs After House Passes $25B Bill in ‘Emergency Funds’ For the USPS

The House passed a bill Saturday giving $25 billion in what Democrats call emergency funds to the U.S. Postal Service. It passed 257-150 in the Democratic-controlled House, earning some support from Republicans who expressed concerns about delayed mail.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi celebrated the passage by tweeting out, “today, in a bipartisan vote, the House passed the Delivering for America Act, critical legislation to reverse the President’s damage and provide $25 billion to the @USPS. We are committed to protecting this essential service for all Americans. #DontMessWithUSPS“

Today, in a bipartisan vote, the House passed the Delivering for America Act, critical legislation to reverse the President’s damage and provide $25 billion to the @USPS. We are committed to protecting this essential service for all Americans. #DontMessWithUSPS pic.twitter.com/0wSqdG7bfY

— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) August 23, 2020

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell voiced his opposition for the bill in a tweet just minutes after the vote.

“House Democrats have spent weeks ignoring the urgent needs of American workers and families, but they rushed back to Washington the instant that overblown conspiracy theories about the U.S. Postal Service convinced them their own jobs might be in jeopardy,” he said.

House Democrats have spent weeks ignoring the urgent needs of American workers and families, but they rushed back to Washington the instant that overblown conspiracy theories about the U.S. Postal Service convinced them their own jobs might be in jeopardy. My full statement: pic.twitter.com/41VdckTLw0

— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) August 22, 2020

He later tweeted that “if Washington Democrats would devote half the energy they spend worrying about their own re-elections to actually helping the American people, we could easily achieve the kind of targeted, bipartisan relief package that Republicans have wanted for weeks.”

If Washington Democrats would devote half the energy they spend worrying about their own re-elections to actually helping the American people, we could easily achieve the kind of targeted, bipartisan relief package that Republicans have wanted for weeks.

— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) August 22, 2020

From NBC:

McConnell has suggested he is open to additional Postal Service funding, but not as a stand-alone bill. He has called for a smaller amount of USPS funding to be part of a larger coronavirus relief bill.

Trump has also said he wants to block agency emergency funding for the Postal Service because he opposes expanding access to vote by mail.

“Representatives of the Post Office have repeatedly stated that they DO NOT NEED MONEY, and will not make changes,” Trump tweeted Saturday before the vote, calling it “another HOAX by the Democrats.”

When asked about the tweet, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said, “He says everything’s a hoax cause he’s a hoax.”