U.S. appeals ruling that barred Postal Service changes before election

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS), Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and President Donald Trump late Friday appealed a federal judge's ruling suspending service changes and requiring aggressive steps to ensure ballot deliveries ahead of the November presidential election, the Justice Department said.

The government said it was appealing U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan's preliminary injunction orders issued in late September in a pair of legal challenges. Sullivan directed the USPS to take "extraordinary measures" to ensure that millions of ballots were delivered by mail and held numerous hearings on the status of ballots. It is not immediately clear what impact the appeal would have at this late stage, given that the final deadlines for accepting ballots by mail for the Nov. 6 election had passed. Joe Biden has been declared the president-elect by Reuters and numerous other news organizations.

The White House, Justice Department and USPS did not immediately comment late Friday. Sullivan also ordered twice-daily sweeps at USPS facilities serving states with extended ballot receipt deadlines.

At a hearing earlier this month, Sullivan said he would demand DeJoy answer questions about why the postal service failed to complete a court-ordered sweep for undelivered ballots. Sullivan had said that DeJoy "is either going to have to be deposed or appear before me and testify under oath about why some measures were not taken."