Louis DeJoy became a household name last year when he, as postmaster general, was criticized for delays in U.S. post, especially around the time when ballots would be critical during the presidential election.
While many of former President Trump’s allies have since transferred to think tanks or their own candidates for political office or even SPACs, DeJoy remains the country’s postmaster general.
It’s not that President Joe Biden or other Democrats are suddenly supporters of the longtime Trump donor, it’s because of the peculiarities of how his position is filled.
His days in office have probably been numbered, but his opponents meanwhile seem determined to make his life difficult. A hearing in Congress is scheduled for next week and tributes have confirmed that Postmaster DeJoy and others are attending.
DeJoy’s appearance before Congress last year was marked by open hostility and fights over everything from the post office’s future to the price of a postcard.
House Oversight chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D., NY) will lead the trial and said in a statement this week: “If the postmaster-general were a CEO of another company, he would already be out. his position is removed. ‘
“I look forward to the work ahead”
DeJoy will announce a ten-year plan in the coming days and recently said at a meeting of the Board of Governors of the Postal Service: “I look forward to the work ahead.”
According to reports, his plan will include a change in first-class mail that could delay delivery times. And that comes in addition to the sharp decline that businesses and individuals have seen during the recent holiday season. The Washington Post collected data from recent lawsuits and found that only 38% of non-local first-class mail was on time at the end of December. The comparable figure from 2019 was 92%.
DeJoy says the reform he is undertaking “is not only necessary, it is also no longer necessary for a long time.”
His opponents say the problem is him.
The reported plans would send first-class mail to trucks instead of the faster flight route. “It’s going to be really bad,” says Mitch Goldstone, CEO of ScanMyPhotos.com, about the impact on his business. His company is very dependent on the Post Office, and he says more delays cut into the benevolence he has with his ‘Our name is affected because people need the deliveries immediately and it just does not happen,’ he said.
A group of 77 lawmakers wrote in a recent letter to Biden that reforms in the post office may be necessary, but ‘there is ample evidence that Postmaster General DeJoy is not equipped to meet the challenges. ‘
In a statement, DeJoy told Yahoo Finance that his plan “is critical to successfully solving problems that prevent the Postal Service from meeting the American people’s expectations for reliability, and that lead to billions of dollars in losses annually. without an end in sight. ” A recent USPS financial report estimates a net loss of $ 9.7 billion in 2021 after a loss of $ 9.2 billion last year.
DeJoy said the plan is still being finalized and details will be announced in the coming weeks. The details he has set out so far include a commitment to continue the six- and seven-day-a-week delivery service to every address in the country and also a plan to “comply with our legal requirement to be self-sufficient”. . “
A ‘Fall in the Holidays’
Goldstone co-founded his company in 1990 – which has to send photos and emails again – and has long been a post office. At one point, he even appeared in a mail service ad. More recently, he has become an outspoken critic of DeJoy.
He said the service has been getting worse over the course of last year and that 2020 has ended with a drop in the holiday season. His business could adapt, but many businesses could not, Goldstone said.
According to a 2019 USPS report, 70% of the smallest businesses – those with less than ten employees – use the Post Office regularly and spend an average of $ 359 a month on shipping. Goldstone’s businesses and other similar businesses had to find ways to reduce the slowdown.
The extra cost to Goldstone’s business could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars, he said. “I think what I’m going to do is wait to see if he resigns and if he’s fired and if that does not happen then I will send him an account for all our expenses incurred,” Goldstone said. “I’m just amazed that he did not just retire and disappear.”
At a recent meeting of the Board of Governors, DeJoy acknowledged the problems during the past holiday season. We have ‘disappointed’ the country, he said. “I apologize to the customers who experienced the impact of our delays.” At the meeting, the board also elected Ron Bloom, a Democrat, as the new leader of the board in what could be the first of many changes.
‘There are a number of openings’
Biden does have a way of finally putting DeJoy off, but it can take time. The postmaster general – in an effort to protect it from politics – is controlled by the Council of Postal Services.
DeJoy still has support on the board with a current panel consisting of two Democrats, four Republicans and three vacancies.
What Biden has the power to do is fill those vacancies. White House press secretary Jen Psaki responded to a recent conference on a recent question about DeJoy’s future by pointing out: ‘There are currently a number of openings, which she says’ would work a way through’ a staffing process ”.
On Capitol Hill, several lawmakers are also demanding that DeJoy be expelled. There is letter after letter after letter after letter DeJoy calls for immediate retirement and for Biden to fill the vacancies on the board. Some even called on Biden to fire the existing board and appoint a whole new lead.
The hearing scheduled for next Wednesday is in the House Oversight Committee. Both DeJoy and Ron Bloom will testify. The general purpose of the meeting is to see an example of the postal reform that two Democrats on the committee – Gerry Connolly (D., Va.) Of Virginia and Carolyn Maloney – are working on.
In addition, all parties expect members such as Connolly – who chairs the Government Operations Subcommittee overseeing the post office – to ask DeJoy about service reductions.
“The committee will not be delayed or deterred from implementing major reforms to help the long-term financial sustainability of the Postal Service,” Maloney said. “It is up to the president and the Senate to fill the vacancies on the board.”
For his part, Goldstone told Yahoo Finance he remains loyal to the Postal Service, if not, it is the current leader.
He says a big part of his current business is digitizing photos people need for virtual memorials for family members who died of COVID-19. “At this critical time, businesses cannot run away from the Postal Service,” he said. “We trust them and that’s really important.”
Ben Werschkul is a writer and producer of Yahoo Finance in Washington, DC.
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