Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Restoring service central to postal board nominees
President Joe Biden’s nominees to the governing board of the U.S. Postal Service pledged Thursday to rebuild trust with the American public through prompt deliveries, as they outlined a vision for the agency in their first formal statements to lawmakers.
The nominees — Ron Stroman, a former deputy postmaster general; Amber McReynolds, who leads the nonprofit National Vote at Home Institute; and Anton Hajjar, the former general counsel of the American Postal Workers Union — made the remarks during their confirmation hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The panel did not immediately vote on the nominations.
The hearing marked the first step in a process that could reshape the board as Postmaster General Louis DeJoy pursues a controversial overhaul of mail operations following outrage last year over delivery slowdowns. If approved by the committee then the full Senate, the nominees would give Democrats and Democratic appointees a majority on the board.
The hearing was relatively tame compared to the combative spats that have characterized DeJoy’s appearances on Capitol Hill since he took over the agency last year and since weathered several calls to step down. Under questioning, all three nominees said they have not faced any outside pressure to oust DeJoy, a major GOP donor, and instead focused on their plans to improve service and agency infrastructure.
“There is an enormous reservoir of goodwill among the people for the Postal Service. That has to be preserved, it cannot be squandered, it’s the strength of the Postal Service,” said Hajjar. “Service has to be job one.”
The nominations came after DeJoy and the board Chairman Ron Bloom, a Democrat, debuted a sweeping, 10-year strategic plan meant to stem a projected $160 billion loss at the agency over the next decade.
Among other things, the plan would relax the current first-class letter delivery standard of oneto-three-days to a one-tofive-day benchmark for mail going to the farthest reaches of the postal network. Officials have said 70% of mail would still be delivered within a three-day standard. The plan also includes a proposal to consolidate underused post offices, hints at a potential postage rate increase, as well as investments in a new fleet of delivery vehicles.
The agency is seeking advisory opinions from the independent Postal Regulatory Commission on potential changes to delivery standards as well as other initiatives in the plan.
Democrats have had DeJoy in their crosshairs since he took over the Postal Service and have ramped up their criticism after he detailed his long-term strategy for the agency.
A wealthy logistics executive, DeJoy was accused of trying to sabotage the agency when he implemented a series of policy changes that slowed mail deliveries before the 2020 Election. He has strongly disputed that claim, though he eventually suspended some of his initiatives after intense public pushback and a raft of legal challenges.