AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey said he did not take the decision to take legal action against the Trump Administration this week lightly.
Maine joined a multi-state lawsuit, led by Pennsylvania AG Josh Shapiro, over recent changes to the U.S. Postal Service and mail-in voting.
Frey made the announcement late Tuesday following days of discussion between his office, the Secretary of State's Office, and Gov. Janet Mills.
The suit was set to be filed in federal court in Pennsylvania on Thursday.
"We have a president who is dissuading people from engaging in mail-in ballots,” Frey told NEWS CENTER Maine in his first interview since the announcement. “I mean who in their right mind would support someone saying you know what we want to interfere with your constitutional rights to do something."
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy released a notice Tuesday saying he would stop changes until after Election Day.
“To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election mail, I am suspending these initiatives until after the election is concluded," DeJoy wrote.
Frey said the damage is already done.
“There's already been an effect of some of the changes the postmaster general has made,” he said. “He has not addressed how those changes are going to be rolled back."
In Maine, those changes have had a significant impact. According to several sources, two of the ten mail sorting machines have been removed from the Scarborough processing facility.
Union leaders said at least 65,000 pieces of mail were delayed in Maine last week because of a rule change that required a truck to leave without being fully packed.
Kevin Pendexter, a mail carrier in Waterville, said he is worried about what to tell his customers.
“This delay is going to affect us. It's very concerning,” he said in a press conference Thursday with the Maine AFL-CIO.
The group of unions, including the American Postal Worker Union (APWU) and National Association of Letter Carriers, is demanding lawmakers pass a bill to inject some $25 billion in funding into the USPS.
A bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to provide that funding has yet to be taken up by the Senate.
The APWU is the only group outright calling for DeJoy's resignation.
"Even if it's undone now, he's going to move forward after the election," APWU Local 458 President Scott Adams said. "We just don't think this is a good fit for him. I'll put it that way."
DeJoy is set to testify before the Senate on Friday morning.