Postmaster General admits he does not know the cost of sending a postcard

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  • Postmaster General Louis DeJoy struggled to answer fundamental questions about the cost of postage for basic items during a US House watch hearing on Monday.
  • In an exchange with Rep. Katie Porter, DeJoy admitted that he didn’t know the cost of sending a postcard or a smaller greeting card, the starting rate for US priority mail, or the number of Americans who voted by mail in 2016.
  • “Mr. DeJoy, I’m concerned. I’m glad you know the price of a stamp, but I’m concerned about your understanding of this agency,” Porter said.
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Postmaster General Louis DeJoy struggled to answer basic questions about the cost of postage for items, including postcards, while being questioned by Representative Katie Porter during a hearing United States House Surveillance Monday.

DeJoy, a former shipping and logistics manager and prolific Republican political donor, was appointed post office minister in May and took office in June. He is the first Postmaster General in nearly 30 years without having any work experience at the agency.

Porter, a congressman from Southern California and a former professor of consumer credit law at the University of California at Irvine, is known for her direct and incisive questioning of witnesses during hearings.

The relevant part of their exchange is below:

  • Carry: “Mr. DeJoy, thank you for being with us today. What is the cost of a First Class postage stamp?”
  • DeJoy: “55 cents.”
  • Carry: “I just wanted to check. What about sending a postcard?”
  • DeJoy: “I don’t know, ma’am.”
  • Carry: “You don’t know the cost of sending a postcard?”
  • DeJoy: “I do not.”
  • Carry: “You said 55 cents for a first class stamp, but what if it’s like one of those greeting cards that’s a square envelope, then what’s the postage?”
  • DeJoy: “I will say that I know very little about postage stamps.”
  • Carry: “You were more in the shipping and logistics industry, what is the weight limit for priority mail?”
  • DeJoy: “Seventy pounds.
  • Carry: “And what’s the starting rate for USPS Priority Mail?”
  • DeJoy: “Starting weight … fourteen ounces.”
  • Carry: “No, the rate, the price.”
  • DeJoy: “I do not know.”
  • Carry: “In a million or so, can you tell me how many people voted by mail in the last presidential election?”
  • DeJoy: “No I can not.”
  • Carry: “To the nearest ten million?”
  • DeJoy: “I would guess, and I don’t want to guess.”
  • Carry: “So, Mr. DeJoy, I’m concerned. I’m glad you know the price of a stamp, but I’m concerned about your understanding of this agency. And I’m especially concerned that you’ve started taking stamps. very decisive measures. when you became postmaster. “

It costs 35 cents to mail a postcard in the United States, 70 cents to mail a square or unusually shaped envelope, and the starting rate for priority mail is $ 7.50. Thirty-three million voters, or 23.7 percent of the electorate, cast their ballot in the 2016 presidential election, according to the U.S. Electoral Assistance Commission.

One week before the hearing, Porter wrote on Twitter: “I hope the Postmaster General will be prepared. I know I will.”

In recent weeks, Democrats have accused DeJoy of gutting the agency and working in tandem with President Donald Trump to sabotage the election, which will likely see more Americans than ever return their ballots through the postal service.

In both testimony before the US Senate Friday and Monday in the House, DeJoy argued that he had not arbitrarily reduced overtime or removed necessary sorting machines from post offices, he said he was determined to ensure the integrity of the election and to ensure all ballots are delivered on time.

But his responses were unsatisfactory for many Democrats, who toasted DeJoy on Monday over the new changes of operations that took place during his short tenure.

Some lawmakers have raised concerns about new cost-cutting measures, including limiting overtime and late travel for letter carriers. Despite DeJoy’s assurances, recent mail delays have raised alarms that some ballots may arrive too late to be counted.



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