More than a dozen states sue Postal Service over delays

Two groups of states announced separate lawsuits against Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Tuesday over operational changes at the Postal Service that have led to delays in mail delivery around the country ahead of the November elections.

Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) said in a statement that 13 other state attorneys general would join him in suing DeJoy for allegedly acting “outside of his authority to implement changes to the postal system, and … not follow[ing] the proper procedures under federal law.”

“For partisan gain, President Trump is attempting to destroy a critical institution that is essential for millions of Americans,” Ferguson said in a statement accompanying the press release. “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.”

Ferguson’s lawsuit accuses DeJoy of not submitting planned operational changes at the agency to the Postal Regulatory Commission, which he argues deprives states including Washington the right to comment on service changes.

Other states represented by Ferguson’s lawsuit are Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin.

A separate lawsuit also filed Tuesday led by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) follows the same route as the Washington lawsuit, accusing DeJoy of unilaterally implementing changes that affected nationwide mail service without consulting states or the Postal Regulatory Commission, according to the California attorney general’s office, which joined the lawsuit.

Representatives with the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office did not immediately return a request for comment. In a press release, the California attorney general’s office slammed the president for unproven claims he has made about widespread voter fraud affecting mail-in voting systems.

“Despite President Trump’s unsupported allegations, studies have repeatedly shown that voting fraud is extremely rare in the United States — with no state reporting any indication of widespread voting fraud,” reads California’s press release. “Ultimately, these false claims of fraud and the unprecedented attacks on a 245-year-old institution not only threaten to undermine a free and fair election, but they also put the jobs of more than 600,000 postal workers nationwide at risk.”

DeJoy is set to testify before the House Oversight and Reform Committee as well as the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in the coming days as the Postal Service has warned at least 40 states that their mail-in ballot deadlines conflict with the service’s ability to deliver ballots on time due to faces financial troubles.