Just as the governor and two members of his cabinet were adjusting their computers to conduct an online news conference to denounce what they called the Trump administration's interference in the U.S. Postal Service, the new postmaster general announced he was rolling back sweeping changes that could have slowed mail delivery.

Gov. Tom Wolf, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., were calling on President Donald Trump to end the sabotage of the country's postal service they said has delayed the delivery of vital medications to seniors, veterans and patients and could threaten the ability of voters to mail in their ballots in November.

They were joined by a retired master sergeant and a heart transplant patient, who detailed the impact delaying the mail would have on their health conditions as well as their opposition to manipulating the postal service to prevent voters from using mail-in ballots.

At about the time the news conference started, Louis DeJoy, the newly installed postmaster general, announced that the changes he instituted in July as cost-saving measures would be reversed until after the election.

“Retail hours at Post Offices will not change. Mail processing equipment and blue collection boxes will remain where they are,” DeJoy said. “No mail processing facilities will be closed.”

Casey minced no words regarding his thoughts on Trump's new postmaster general. “He hired someone to implement his plan to cheat in the election,” Casey said.

Casey called the installation of DeJoy a “five-alarm fire for our democracy when the leader of the free world, our president, interferes with the operations of the postal service.”

He said he received 15,000 letters from constituents in a few days, including one from a woman whose eye drops for glaucoma normally arrived in 24 hours but now are taking four days, residents whose workers' compensation checks were five days late, and a veteran who waited seven days to get his medications in the mail. “These are real people, not just theoretical assertions,” Casey said.

The 48 counties classified as “rural” in Pennsylvania, Casey said, rely more heavily on the postal service.

He called on Senate Majority Leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to reconvene the Senate so a vote could be taken to fund the postal service and allow it to continue deliveries.

“We've got to ensure the postal service has every dollar it needs,” Casey said.

He also called upon DeJoy to testify truthfully before Congress to answer questions on how his changes would affect on-time delivery, whether he has conducted any formal analysis or held discussions with stakeholders regarding his changes to postal service operations, and other queries.

“The American people not only support but rely on the United States Postal Service,” Casey said.

Wolf said the coronavirus pandemic has made voting by mail imperative, and that Democrats and Republicans in Harrisburg worked together toward instituting mail-in voting.

He said absentee ballots have been used for years without incident, and that the state's voting system is safe and secure.

“We must stand with the United States Postal Service against efforts to undermine it,” Wolf said.

Shapiro said he planned to file legal claims Wednesday against DeJoy and the Trump administration for making changes to the postal service without first appearing before the Postal Regulation Commission as required.

“They recklessly moved forward with these procedures and broke the law,” Shapiro said.

He said the U.S. Postal Service was the brainchild of Benjamin Franklin.

“It was a way to tie us together,” Shapiro said. “It is essential to the foundation of this nation.”

Shapiro said, “(Trump's) reckless and unlawful actions are meant to make Pennsylvanians feel powerless. We represent the people of Pennsylvania and we are going to continue to stand with the USPS.”

Retired Master Sergeant Charles Baldoff Jr. of Mercer County, who served for 27 years in the U.S. Navy and Air Force, said 33,000 Pennsylvania veterans get their prescription medications in the mail.

“I really don't feel (Trump) cares about veterans or senior citizens,” he said. “He's putting our lives on the line.”

Baldoff said Trump is interfering in the postal service and admitting that mail-in voting would hurt his chances in the fall, and Baldoff called it “pure and simple, voting suppression.”

He said his health conditions would make it risky to vote at the precinct, as a case of COVID-19 “would be a death sentence” for him. “I have the right to vote,” Baldoff said. “I should not have to put my life on the line.”

Casey said legal action by Shapiro against the Trump administration and DeJoy will continue, even though DeJoy says he has reversed his July changes to the postal service.

“It's not an administration whose words you can trust,” Casey said. “This is going to require continual vigilance.”

Shapiro said a little more than two years ago, he and Wolf sued Trump over an environmental issue, and the administration reversed course on the issue the next day. “No one is above the law in this country,” Shapiro said.