While Postmaster General Louis DeJoy reversed course Tuesday on a number of operational changes at U.S. post offices, California Rep. John Garamendi, said the damage inflicted on the postal service is done.
"This man has done everything he could possibly do in his two and a half months in office to destroy the credibility, the efficiency, and effectiveness of the post office," Garamendi (D-Calif. 3rd District) told Cheddar.
DeJoy is set to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and the Government Affairs Committee on Friday to respond to concerns about the potential for massive delays in the postal system ahead of the November presidential election. Last week, the USPS warned 46 states that voters there could be disenfranchised due to postal delays.
When asked whether DeJoy should resign, an idea pitched by fellow California Congressman Ro Khanna on Cheddar Monday, Garamendi said, "Certainly."
"He never should have been appointed," he continued. "The president had a plan way back in spring that he was going to disrupt the election in any way possible to keep Americans from voting."
As President Donald Trump continues to rail against widespread voting-by-mail, Garamendi alleged that the "destruction" of the postal service is one of the tactics the president is using to get re-elected.
"This is a pattern to reduce the number of people voting in America so that he can illegitimately win an election. It isn't going to happen," the congressman said.
While Garamendi emphasized the importance of being patient in the days, weeks, and even months following the election because "tens of millions of votes" will need to be counted, he expressed concern that Trump may not peacefully leave the White House in January if he loses in November.
"Every American must be concerned about the very future of our democracy," Garamendi said. "This president intends to be a dictator."
For Americans that are still skeptical of the mail-in voting process, Garamendi reassured voters that it is not new and is reliable.
"There is no reason, there's no evidence, there's absolutely no history of fraud in mail-in voting. It's been going on in California for decades," he said.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
U.S. and Chinese officials say a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is drawing closer. The sides have reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting Thursday in South Korea. Any agreement would be a relief to international markets. Trump's treasury secretary says discussions with China yielded preliminary agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the United States. Scott Bessent also says Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earth elements needed for advanced technologies.
A new poll finds most U.S. adults are worried about health care becoming more expensive.
The White House budget office says mass firings of federal workers have started in an attempt to exert more pressure on Democratic lawmakers as the government shutdown continues.
President Donald Trump says “there seems to be no reason” to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as part of an upcoming trip to South Korea after China restricted exports of rare earths needed for American industry. The Republican president suggested Friday he was looking at a “massive increase” of import taxes on Chinese products in response to Xi’s moves. Trump says one of the policies the U.S. is calculating is "a massive increase of Tariffs on Chinese products coming into the United States." A monthslong calm on Wall Street was shattered, with U.S. stocks falling on the news. The Chinese Embassy in Washington hasn't responded to an Associated Press request for comment.
Most members of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate setting committee supported further reductions to its key interest rate this year, minutes from last month’s meeting showed.
From Wall Street trading floors to the Federal Reserve to economists sipping coffee in their home offices, the first Friday morning of the month typically brings a quiet hush around 8:30 a.m. eastern, as everyone awaits the Labor Department’s monthly jobs report.
The Supreme Court is allowing Lisa Cook to remain as a Federal Reserve governor for now.
Rep. John Moolenaar has requested an urgent briefing from the White House after Trump supported a deal giving Americans a majority stake in TikTok.
