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However, DeJoy’s resolve may soon be put to the test, as Biden has appointed three people – Ron Stroman, Anton Hajjar, and Amber McReynolds – to fill the open seats on the board that determines the postmaster’s fate, the White House announced on Wednesday afternoon. If confirmed, the Democratic candidates would have a majority of the nine seats on the USPS Board of Governors, potentially giving them the option of getting rid of DeJoy.
Stroman is a recently retired former deputy postal general manager, Hajjar is the former general counsel for the American Postal Workers Union, and McReynolds is chief operating officer at the nonprofit Vote at Home Institute.
The Postmaster General appeared at times disturbed by the line of questioning from members of Congress, as well as critical media coverage of him and the USPS during his shift.
DeJoy stressed that he was not a presidential candidate, intervening at one point to correct a member of the Democratic committee who called him a “Trump holdover.”
“I am not a political candidate,” he said. “I would really appreciate it if you understood that.”
DeJoy’s comments came as he, Postal Commission Chairman Ron Bloom, and other officials spoke out about the need for legislation to strengthen the service’s financial condition.
The USPS has reported billions in net losses every year in recent years, and Bloom has testified that it is expected to lose about $ 160 billion over the next 10 years without significant reforms.
A proposal to force postal workers to enroll in Medicare, potentially saving more than $ 40 billion over the next decade, and to eliminate the requirement that the USPS pre-fund retiree health benefits was a rare point of agreement between DeJoy and others.
However, “that doesn’t solve the problem” on its own, DeJoy added.
“We are in a death spiral,” he said. “We cannot, even with this legislation, we cannot continue to lose money.”
DeJoy acknowledged that the Postal Service’s performance weakened last year, but said the USPS faced structural problems that had been glaring for years before his appointment last year.
“Years of financial stress, underinvestment, unachievable service standards and operational insecurity have resulted in a system that does not have the adequate resilience to adapt and adapt to changing circumstances,” said he declared.
DeJoy told committee members that a strategic plan should be ready by March. But several possible changes he planned – including lowering delivery standards for first-class mail and reducing the use of planes to carry mail across the country – drew a cold reception from Congress. .
“It seems your solution to the problems you’ve identified is just to surrender,” said Rep Jamie Raskin (DM.d.). “You’re basically saying that because the mail was late under your direction, we’re just going to change the standards and put it into the system.”
DeJoy disputed such characterizations, but said postal officers “assess all service standards.” He also said the goal was to eliminate the department’s budget deficit.
“We don’t want to take advantage of it. We want to reach the breakeven point, ”he said.
Republicans on the committee have largely defended DeJoy and accused their Democratic counterparts of growing up and unfairly slandering the Postmaster General and his attempts to reform the Postal Service.
“I wish we had given you more credit for that instead of trying to challenge you, nitpick and micromanage you,” said Rep Pete Sessions (R-Texas).
Republicans argued that he was a scapegoat, especially for the way the ballots were handled in the run-up to the November election, a posture that at times led to difficult discussions among committee members. .
Several of the changes implemented last year under DeJoy have been halted in response to strong outrage over the growing delays. In October, the USPS internal watchdog determined that the reshuffles, combined with staffing issues related to coronaviruses, “had had a negative impact on the quality and timeliness of mail delivery.” The Inspector General’s report also noted shortcomings in the implementation of these policies.
For weeks, Democrats pressured Biden to take action to remove DeJoy, and the president vowed to quickly appoint new members to the board of directors that oversees the Postmaster General. Some Democrats have even urged Biden to remove the entire board in order to fill it with people willing to get rid of DeJoy – a dramatic move which legal experts say does not stand up in court.
The Postmaster General previously testified before Congress in the fall as concerns mounted over long delays in the delivery of pay checks, drugs and other critical mail. At the time, Democrats were also concerned about the effect the drop in performance would have on postal voting, and even accused DeJoy of seeking to influence the election in Trump’s favor.
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