House panel calls postal chief to hearing on delivery delays
WASHINGTON — The House Oversight Committee has invited the new postmaster general to appear at a hearing next month to examine operational changes to the U.S. Postal Service that are causing delays in mail deliveries across the country.
The plan imposed by Louis DeJoy, a Republican fundraiser who took over the top job at the Postal Service in June, eliminates overtime for hundreds of thousands of workers and orders that mail be kept until the next day if postal distribution centers are running late.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., who chairs the Oversight panel, said the Sept. 17 hearing will focus on “the need for on-time mail delivery during the ongoing pandemic and upcoming election,” which is expected to include a major expansion of mail-in balloting.
President Donald Trump opposes expanding voting by mail, arguing it will trigger fraud, even though there’s no evidence of that. Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and other top administration officials frequently vote absentee themselves.
Trump also has called the Postal Service “a joke” and said package shipping rates should be at least four times higher for heavy users like Amazon.
But shipping and packages are a top revenue generator for the Postal Service, and critics say Trump is merely looking to punish Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos in retaliation for unflattering coverage in The Washington Post, which Bezos owns.
The committee intended to have the hearing with DeJoy this week, Maloney said, but was told DeJoy could not attend because of a meeting of the Postal Service’s Board of Governors. DeJoy has confirmed his availability for next month’s hearing, she said.
Postal Service officials, bracing for steep losses from the nationwide shutdown caused by the virus, have warned they will run out of money by the end of September without help from Congress. The service reported a $4.5 billion loss for the quarter ending in March, before the full effects of the shutdown sank in, and expects losses totaling more than $22 billion over the next 18 months.
“The Postal Service is in a financially unsustainable position, stemming from substantial declines in mail volume and a broken business model,” DeJoy said in a statement last week.
Bills approved by the Democratic-controlled House would set aside $25 billion to keep the mail flowing, but they remain stalled in the GOP-controlled Senate. Congress has approved a $10 billion line of credit for the Postal Service, but it remains unused amid restrictions by the Trump administration.
The Postal Service and Treasury Department announced an agreement in principle on loan terms last week, with a formal deal expected in the next few weeks. Even with the loan, the Postal Service “remains on an unsustainable path and we will continue to focus on improving operational efficiency,” DeJoy said.
Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, the top Democrat on a panel that oversees the Postal Service, said any changes to Postal Service operations “must be carefully considered to ensure they do not limit service for Americans who rely on the mail for essentials, especially during a pandemic.”