White House threatens to veto Democrats’ bill to provide additional funds to the postal service
The bill is expected to pass on Saturday largely along party lines, with Democrats supporting it. House GOP leaders are actively pushing their members to oppose the legislation, and it is not likely to be considered in the Republican-controlled Senate.
The White House criticized the bill for spending funds “arbitrarily” without tying those funds to coronavirus relief or the election in a statement of administration policy released Friday evening.
“The Administration strongly opposes passage of H.R. 8015. Instead of reforming the United States Postal Service (USPS) to ensure its continued viability in the modern economy, H.R. 8015 would arbitrarily give USPS $25 billion in ’emergency’ taxpayer funding, without linking that funding to either the COVID-19 pandemic or the upcoming election,” the statement released by the Office of Management and Budget reads in part.
The statement also accuses Democrats of trying to “exploit the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext for placing counterproductive restrictions on USPS’s already limited operational flexibilities.”
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
Haley Byrd contributed to this report.
