Michigan Joins Lawsuit Against U.S. Postal Service

MICHIGAN — Michigan has joined a group of other states in filing a lawsuit Tuesday against the federal government over recent changes to the U.S. Postal Service's operations while preparing for the potential impacts those changes could have on the November general election.

With the support of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Tuesday that Michigan will join the lawsuit, which is being led by the state of Washington and includes 13 states. The State of Pennsylvania is leading a similar lawsuit.

The lawsuit argues changes proposed and implemented by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy are unlawful, and that they threaten the timely delivery of mail to people who reply on the USPS for items such as medical prescription and ballots.

“Recent actions taken by Mr. DeJoy are unlawful and indicate an attempt to disrupt and delay U.S. Postal Service operations,” Nessel said. “For more than 200 years, the postal service has been a fundamental part of the fabric of this country. People and businesses rely on it to deliver critical medications, correspondence and goods. We filed this lawsuit on behalf of the people of this state to ensure they can continue to depend on a system that is an integral part of our daily lives, our economic well-being and our democratic process.”

Under federal law, changes to USPS operations that affect nationwide mail service must be submitted to the Postal Regulatory Commission and the public must be provided an opportunity to comment, Nessel's office said.

“General DeJoy never engaged in that process here,” the lawsuit states. “As a matter of substance, these changes will have a wide range of negative consequences that violate a diverse array of federal laws, from harming individuals with disabilities in violation of the Rehabilitation Act to disenfranchising voters in violation of the Constitution.”

The coalition is asking the USPS to request an advisory opinion from the Postal Regulatory Commission. It also seeks an injunction prohibiting USPS from implementing operational changes until it has an appropriate advisory opinion from the commission, and asks the Court to order USPS to rescind any changes it already illegally made without that opinion.

The lawsuit will be filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court Eastern District of Washington.

Since being named the U.S. Postmaster General in May, DeJoy has implemented several changes that Nessel's office said have resulted in or threatened to reduce efficiency and timeliness of mail delivery.

Nessel's office said those changes include eliminating overtime for USPS employees, reducing operating hours, removing mailboxes and decommissioning sorting machines.

In Michigan, Nessel's office said, several sorting machines have been removed from post office facilities in Pontiac, Detroit and Grand Rapids. The machines can sort about 270,000 pieces of mail per hour.

The Postal Service also recently notified states that it will end its longstanding practice of processing ballots as first-class mail — regardless of what type of postage is used. States and counties that use marketing or bulk-rate postage for their ballots could experience delays that may prevent some ballots from being counted.

First-class mail normally has a delivery standard of 2-5 days, and nonprofit marketing mail has a delivery standard of 3-10 days, Nessel's office said.

Michigan is joined in the suit by Washington, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin.

“We are committed to combatting voter suppression, misinformation and intimidation, and ensuring that every eligible vote is received, tallied and reported,” Nessel said.