House Democrats on Monday pressed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy about changes made to the Postal Service under his tenure that have caused a national outcry about the agency's ability to handle the expected flood of mail ballots in the November election.
DeJoy affirmed that USPS has not coordinated with President Trump or his re-election campaign on recent changes to the Postal Service. However, in communications with the Postal Service Board of Governors, DeJoy had asked the Trump campaign to cease attacks on the Postal Service and absentee voting.
"I have put words around to different people that this is not helpful," said DeJoy.
In the contentious hearing convened by the Oversight and Reform Committee, Democrats attacked DeJoy by highlighting his financial contributions to Trump's campaign while also connecting the timing between DeJoy's appointment as postmaster general to a downward spike in mail service.
Democratic Rep. Steven Lynch did not mince words when questioning DeJoy's actions during his 70-day tenure, including removal of blue mail boxes and mail sorting machines across the country, slowdown of mail delivery, and not allowing mail carriers to work overtime.
"After 240 years of patriotic service delivering the mail, how can one person screw this up in just a few weeks?" asked Lynch.
The Massachusetts lawmaker continued by accusing DeJoy of making these changes at USPS for one of two reasons, either by gross incompetence or to deliberately dismantle the agency's long history of providing vital mail services to every American.
As expected, the Republican minority largely defended DeJoy by focusing on how many of the changes were in place before DeJoy joined the agency. They also repeatedly pointed out that USPS has approximately $10 billion in cash on hand, which they considered more than enough funding to handle the onslaught of election mail expected ahead of the November election.
DeJoy largely responded to Democrats' accusations as unfair and inaccurate, claiming changes at USPS would not impact the November election and that he has not and does not intend to coordinate election mail processes with the White House.
Emphasizing the critical context surrounding recent changes at USPS, Democratic Rep. Gerald Connolly of Virginia pushed DeJoy to acknowledge how the ongoing global pandemic and a divisive presidential election could cause mass alarm to Americans who rely on USPS for vital mail service for not just election mail but medications, bills and Social Security checks.
Republicans criticized Democrats' questioning of DeJoy, with Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina accusing them of pushing another "false narrative," following Robert Mueller's investigation and House impeachment of President Trump earlier this year.
Republicans were also quick to criticize what they say was Democrats' hasty approach to passing an emergency funding bill over the weekend that allocated $25 billion to the Postal Service. DeJoy confirmed he was not personally consulted about the bill by Democrats.
The bill is unlikely to pass the Republican-held Senate.
Monday's hearing was significantly more disorganized than Friday's Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing. Multiple members experienced technical difficulties when joining today's hearing remotely.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a“ Steel Across America” event ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks on the Ellipse near the White House on Sept. 8, 2026 in Washington, D.C. President Trump welcomed 9/ 11 first responders to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’ s“ Steel Across America” event featuring a 16,900- pound, 21- foot steel beam recovered.
For Trump, even 9/11 is an opportunity
There was a reason organizers of the 9/11 ceremony in Manhattan told President Trump he could not speak at this year’s memorial service.
A good one, it turns out.
Because in a speech he gave on Tuesday in Washington, he did exactly what they were presumably worried about — he made it about himself.
According to The New York Times, Trump had wanted a speaking role at the service, but the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum, which oversees the site, said no, as they’ve maintained for the past decade-plus that the venue and event should be nonpartisan.
Trump has long used awful tragedies to either puff himself up, trash political opponents, or sell lies to the American people.
He blamed a deadly plane crash at Washington National Airport last year on diversity, equity and inclusion policies. He blamed Puerto Ricans for the devastation they endured after Hurricane Maria in 2017. He reportedly considered withholding disaster relief after the California wildfires based on the way affected regions voted. In an interview on Fox News meant to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, he used the occasion to slam former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi…with graves of the dead behind him.
And now, as we approach the 25th anniversary of what many New Yorkers consider the darkest day in modern history, Trump has done it again.
He told a rambling, nonsensical story — one he’s told before — about going to Ground Zero just after terrorists flew two commercial jets into the twin towers. In the story, which no one has been able to verify, despite multiple attempts, he says firefighters had to carry him out of One Liberty Plaza, also known as the U.S. Steel Building, because they thought it was about to collapse.
As CNN fact checker Daniel Dale notes, there’s no evidence Trump went into this building, especially at a time when NYPD and NYFD had locked down the area. There’s no evidence that building was collapsing — in fact, it was deemed structurally sound and reopened within two months of the attacks. There’s no evidence he was carried out of it by firefighters.
But the lie isn’t even the worst part. Pretend it was all true — why would the leader of our country, and a New Yorker, decide to make that tragic day about himself?
Because that’s who Donald Trump is. He’s a malignant narcissist.
He’s also, incidentally, a terrible and ineffectual president, who’s made ill-fated decisions that he has to keep defending, and there’s nothing he won’t do to make himself look and feel better.
Within the first two minutes of his speech, he was cravenly using 9/11 to justify and promote his dumb war in Iran — two events separated by 25 years and 6,000 miles.
“And I will tell you, we’re right now fighting because we have a certain nation that wanted a nuclear weapon, they were very close to getting it, and now they have no chance at getting it. They will never have a nuclear weapon. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. And they’ve been punished greatly. As you know, we’ve really taken it to them.”
As a New Yorker who lived through 9/11, still one of the worst days of my life, I’m utterly sickened by Trump’s crass, political, and self-promotional framing of that awful day.
And I’m relieved he won’t be given a platform to do it again on Friday’s anniversary in lower Manhattan.
Because for Trump, everything is his for the taking, and absolutely nothing is sacred.
S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.