Decision to halt postal changes does little to quell election concerns
WASHINGTON >> Louis DeJoy’s move to halt changes that were viewed as a threat to mail-in voting did little to quell the outcry over his leadership as postmaster general, with lawmakers calling Wednesday for his removal and one top Democrat demanding more answers about the secretive process that led to a major Trump donor running the Postal Service.
Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, called on the Postal Service board of governors to release information about the selection process that resulted in DeJoy’s appointment in May, saying that the changes made under his watch underscored the need for more details.
DeJoy, who will face lawmakers at two separate hearings in the coming days, said Tuesday that he would suspend cost-cutting and operational changes that have slowed mail delivery and fueled worries about mail-in voting in the November election. But DeJoy did not commit to reversing changes already put in place, including the removal of hundreds of mailsorting machines, some of which have already been destroyed, according to union officials and postal workers.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, who spoke with DeJoy on Wednesday, said in a statement that the postmaster general “frankly admitted that he had no intention of replacing the sorting machines, blue mailboxes and other key mail infrastructure that have been removed, and that plans for adequate overtime, which is critical for the timely delivery of mail, are not in the works.”
Lawmakers plan to question DeJoy at a Senate committee hearing Friday and at a House oversight hearing Monday. House lawmakers are also expected to vote Saturday on legislation that would reverse the changes put into place by DeJoy, prevent any further changes before the end of the pandemic and provide $25 billion for the beleaguered agency, with $15 million of that going to the Postal Service Office of Inspector
General.
Top House Republicans, who conferred Wednesday by phone with Mark Meadows, the White House chief of staff, are formally urging members of the conference to vote against the measure, according to three people familiar with the discussions.
Close to 100 Democrats called for DeJoy’s removal from the position of postmaster general, writing to the agency’s board of governors that DeJoy “has already done considerable damage to the institution, and we believe his conflicts of interest are insurmountable.”