Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling on the House to return to Washington, likely next weekend, for an unheard of session during presidential convention season. Democrats have also demanded that new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testify on August 24 to answer charges that his controversial new policy changes are intended to deliberately slow voting by mail. The long feared post-Election Day showdown involving Trump's false claims about voting fraud is already here -- more than two months early -- due to the building fight in Washington over the Postal Service. The aggressive Democratic counter-attack -- coming at the start of a critical two-week political crunch that contains the Democratic and Republican National Conventions -- follows Trump's incessant falsehoods about mail-in voting inviting a "catastrophe" in November. The President admitted last week that he opposed $25 billion in new funding for the agency because it could be used to expand such ballot access. The comment left him open to charges that he is deliberately trying to deny the franchise to voters who fear going to polling stations because of the pandemic that has been exacerbated by his mismanagement and has now killed more than 170,000 Americans. "The Postmaster General and top Postal Service leadership must answer to the Congress and the American people as to why they are pushing these dangerous new policies that threaten to silence the voices of millions, just months before the election," Democratic leaders, including Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, said in a statement announcing the hearing they want to have next week with DeJoy, a top Trump fundraiser. View Trump and Biden head-to-head polling The swift Democratic mobilization puts the raging dispute over the sanctity of November's vote at the center of the election campaign and escalates tensions that could spill into a prolonged political and legal imbroglio if November's result is tight. Already, several states say they're considering legal action against the Trump administration over concerns about the USPS and mail-in voting. It also comes with many Democrats worried that DeJoy's policy changes, which have slowed delivery times, removed high-speed letter sorters from commission and included warnings that mail-in ballots will no longer be treated as a priority, will severely impact the election on November 3. As a matter of strategy, highlighting Trump's comment last week that he opposed $25 billion in new funding for the mail system because it would lead to more mail-in voting may also boost Democratic efforts to convince voters to cast their ballots early and potentially bank a lead for the party nominee Joe Biden. It is not clear how effective Democratic action in the House could be. A standalone bill to finance the Postal Service may not make it past the Republican-led Senate. The White House would likely demand concessions on a new economic stimulus bill in return for agreeing to such steps. Negotiations between the two sides broke down this month over
