26 House Republicans just caved on the Post Office. Here’s what happens next.
In a development that Palmer Report predicted, House Democrats informed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy today that they have internal documents proving he lied under oath to the Senate. This gives the Democrats significant leverage heading into DeJoy’s House testimony on Monday, as DeJoy will now have to consider coming clean Sondland-style, in the hope of dodging felony perjury charges.
This development clearly tilted the landscape at least incrementally, as twenty-six House Republicans joined the Democrats this evening in passing legislation to restore funding and operations to the Post Office. This places at least some pressure on Mitch McConnell to allow a Senate vote, and on Donald Trump to swallow it. Remember, this is all about leverage – and the Republicans are starting to cave.
With republicans starting to defect, McConnell will likely wait to see how poorly DeJoy fares in his House testimony on Monday before deciding whether he has no choice but to bring it to a vote in the Senate. McConnell has to consider how strongly voters might end up punishing Senate Republicans in November, if the GOP is seen as having caused the current Post Office problems.
Donald Trump still publicly insists he’ll veto the Post Office legislation if it survives the Senate, but that’s just posturing. If McConnell caves on this, Trump likely will too. This is your 1,342,987th reminder that Trump and McConnell don’t have magic wands. They’re subject to the laws of political leverage, just like everyone else.
