After the House of Representatives passed a bill this weekend to fund the United States Postal Service and stop the Trump administration from cutting its critical services, Senator Susan Collins’ Republican allies are still refusing to end their vacation and protect the USPS from the financial ruin that nonpartisan fact checks, Democratic and Republican legislators, and postal workers have all agreed was set into motion by Collins’ disastrous pre-funding mandate.
As Maine communities suffer due to Postal Service cutbacks, Senator Collins’ allies in Washington have continued to block efforts to shore up the agency. Mitch McConnell has been adamant that Republicans will not move forward with any USPS relief and Donald Trump has threatened to veto the House bill if it comes to his desk. Meanwhile, Mainers who rely on USPS to receive prescription medications and operate their small businesses are worried about what the changes in service could mean for them, while Maine poultry farmers have already lost thousands of dollars due to shipment delays.
Instead of fighting for Mainers and protecting critical USPS services, Senator Collins and her Republican colleagues are continuing their nearly month-long vacation and letting the USPS flounder under the financial burden first created by Senator Collins when she championed the pre-funding mandate.
“Senator Collins’ Republican allies have made it clear--they won’t pass any legislation to protect the USPS services that are so critical to countless Mainers,” said Maine Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Marra. “First, Senator Collins championed a burdensome pre-funding mandate that created a financial crisis for the USPS--now, her friends, Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump, are blocking efforts to ensure that older Mainers, veterans, and small business owners can get the deliveries they need.”
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