The postmaster general was sometimes bothered by the interrogation of members of Congress, as well as critical media coverage of him and the USPS during his guard.
DeJoy noted that he was not a presidential nominee, and at one point intervened to correct a Democratic committee member who characterized him as a “Trump holdover.”
“I’m not a political appointee,” he said. “I would really appreciate it if you could do it.”
DeJoy’s comments came as he, Ron Bloom, chairman of the postal council, and other officials testified about the need for legislation to support the financial position of the service.
The USPS has reported billions in net losses annually over the past year, and Bloom testified that it is expected to lose about $ 160 billion over the next ten years without significant reforms.
A proposal that postal staff should sign up for Medicare, which could save more than $ 40 billion over the next decade, and that the requirement that the USPS health care benefits fund retirees in advance is a rare point of agreement between DeJoy and others .
“However, this does not solve the problem on its own,” DeJoy added.
“We’re dying,” he said. “Even with this legislation, we cannot continue to lose money.”
DeJoy acknowledged that the performance of the postal service had dropped last year, but said the USPS was facing structural problems that had been emerging for years before his appointment last year.
“The years of financial stress, underinvestment, unattainable service standards and lack of precision in the industry have led to a system that does not have sufficient resilience to adapt and adapt to changing circumstances,” he testified.
DeJoy told committee members that a strategic plan should be ready sometime in March. But several possible changes he foresaw – including lowering delivery standards for first-class mail and reducing the use of aircraft to transport mail across the country – have yielded a cold reception from Congress.
“It sounds like your solution to the problems you identified is just surrender,” said Representative Jamie Raskin (DM.d.). “You basically say because the post is too late under your leadership, we’re just going to change the standards and build it into the system.”
DeJoy disputes such characterizations, but testified that postal officials ‘evaluate all service standards’. He also said the aim is to eliminate the budget deficit of the service.
“We do not want to make a profit. We want to break it even, ‘he said.
Republicans on the committee largely defended DeJoy, accusing their Democratic counterparts of sincerely and unfairly blaming the postmaster general and his efforts to reform the postal service.
“I wish we had given you more credit for that instead of trying to guess you and not choosing and managing you,” Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) said.
Republicans have argued that he is becoming a scapegoat, especially over how the ballots were handled in the run-up to the November election, an attitude that sometimes led to a disciplinary exchange between committee members.
Several of the changes DeJoy implemented last year have been halted due to fierce outrage over increasing delays. In October, the USPS’s internal watchdog determined that the upheavals, coupled with coronavirus-related staffing challenges, had a negative impact on the quality and timeliness of mail delivery. ‘In the report of the Inspector-General, shortcomings were also found in the implementation of the policy.
Democrats have been pushing Biden for weeks to take steps to remove DeJoy, and the president has promised to quickly appoint new board members to oversee the postmaster general. There are three open seats on the USPS Board of Governors, though some Democrats have encouraged Biden to remove the entire board to fill it with people who could get rid of DeJoy – a dramatic step that would have legal experts question in court.
The postmaster general testified before Congress earlier in the fall about concerns about long delays in the delivery of salaries, medication and other critical mail. At the time, Democrats were also concerned about the effect the declining performance would have on the postal vote, and even accused DeJoy of wanting to run for office in favor of Trump.