Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to take questions from senators on Friday and make his first public remarks
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is place to take questions from senators on Friday and make his first public remarks since walking back his strategy for operational modifications that drew heavy criticism.
The U.S. Postal Service he leads has suffered from financial problems for many years but DeJoy, a Republican fundraiser, made that summer to cut overtime, draw sorting machines also impose other changes which have effectively reduced the system's throughput.
Democrats charged that has been a part of a scheme by President Trump to undermine the transit of ballots this season after weeks of sustained criticism by Trump of unemployment by mail -- even though that is the way the president votes.
Critics broadly whined that the disruptions to the Postal Service were causing people to overlook email and, in some instances, delay the arrival of drugs and other such items.
DeJoy is set to appear almost before the Senate Homeland Security Committee in 9 a.m. on Friday.
Controversial Changes
DeJoy's"transformative" overhaul, as he called it, involved cutting for mail carriers, and in accordance with The Washington Post, eliminating hundreds of email sorting machines.
It had been made in the name of saving money: The USPS lost $9 billion final year, and may drop $11 billion this year, DeJoy said earlier this month. But the modifications led to nearly immediate reports of mail delays and frustration from postal employee unions, and accusations from Democrats of voter suppression and election undermine.
"Mail is beginning to pile up in our workplaces, and we are seeing equipment being eliminated," said Kimberly Karol, president of the Iowa Postal Workers Union, in an NPR interview last week. "So we are beginning to see the impact of those changes."
Worries were already bubbling about how the changes would affect November's election, when more than half of all ballots cast are expected to be returned delivered via the mail.
And President Trump exacerbated those fears, when in a press conference and following interview, he also tied Postal Service financing to his hope about hampering mail-in voting expansions nationwide during the pandemic.
In response to this bipartisan backlash to those comments, DeJoy changed course and declared that his organizational changes would wait till after the election.
"To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election email, I'm suspending these endeavors until after the election is concluded," DeJoy stated in a statement.
Democrats made it clear they were still not happy, together with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling the announcement"completely insufficient" and"misleading."
In particular, Democrats say they need DeJoy not only to halt the modifications, but to work to undo them and replace equipment that was removed, for example.
Republicans: Oh come on
Some of Trump's allies have scoffed at the flap within the Postal Service.
In a note to lawmakers this week, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., dubbed Democrats' proposed bill to aid the Postal Service a"conspiracy theory behave" and said there isn't any true urgent problem with the mail system.
"This bill is nothing but an attempt to fabricate a postal crisis for political purposes, while squandering taxpayer funds that are not needed in order to appease unions and trial attorneys," Scalise wrote.
Republicans control the Senate committee and DeJoy is scheduled to appear on Friday. Democrats control a home panel before which he is scheduled to appear on Monday.
Lawmakers are expected to media DeJoy for more specifics on the directives he is given. Most of the info about the modifications up to this point has arrived from media reports and the postal employees unions.
Democrats particularly may also just search for reassurances that election email is going to be a priority,'' said Deputy Postmaster General Ronald Stroman. DeJoy did not respond to a group of top election officials who requested a meeting with him last week, NPR reported.
"The Post Office isn't a private company. Its stakeholders will be the people," Stroman said. "So in these situations you owe to the American people to be quite clear and quite transparent about why you are making operational changes."
The U.S. Postal Service he leads has suffered from financial problems for many years but DeJoy, a Republican fundraiser, made that summer to cut overtime, draw sorting machines also impose other changes which have effectively reduced the system's throughput.
Democrats charged that has been a part of a scheme by President Trump to undermine the transit of ballots this season after weeks of sustained criticism by Trump of unemployment by mail -- even though that is the way the president votes.
Critics broadly whined that the disruptions to the Postal Service were causing people to overlook email and, in some instances, delay the arrival of drugs and other such items.
DeJoy is set to appear almost before the Senate Homeland Security Committee in 9 a.m. on Friday.
Controversial Changes
DeJoy's"transformative" overhaul, as he called it, involved cutting for mail carriers, and in accordance with The Washington Post, eliminating hundreds of email sorting machines.
It had been made in the name of saving money: The USPS lost $9 billion final year, and may drop $11 billion this year, DeJoy said earlier this month. But the modifications led to nearly immediate reports of mail delays and frustration from postal employee unions, and accusations from Democrats of voter suppression and election undermine.
"Mail is beginning to pile up in our workplaces, and we are seeing equipment being eliminated," said Kimberly Karol, president of the Iowa Postal Workers Union, in an NPR interview last week. "So we are beginning to see the impact of those changes."
Worries were already bubbling about how the changes would affect November's election, when more than half of all ballots cast are expected to be returned delivered via the mail.
And President Trump exacerbated those fears, when in a press conference and following interview, he also tied Postal Service financing to his hope about hampering mail-in voting expansions nationwide during the pandemic.
In response to this bipartisan backlash to those comments, DeJoy changed course and declared that his organizational changes would wait till after the election.
"To avoid even the appearance of any impact on election email, I'm suspending these endeavors until after the election is concluded," DeJoy stated in a statement.
Democrats made it clear they were still not happy, together with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling the announcement"completely insufficient" and"misleading."
In particular, Democrats say they need DeJoy not only to halt the modifications, but to work to undo them and replace equipment that was removed, for example.
Republicans: Oh come on
Some of Trump's allies have scoffed at the flap within the Postal Service.
In a note to lawmakers this week, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., dubbed Democrats' proposed bill to aid the Postal Service a"conspiracy theory behave" and said there isn't any true urgent problem with the mail system.
"This bill is nothing but an attempt to fabricate a postal crisis for political purposes, while squandering taxpayer funds that are not needed in order to appease unions and trial attorneys," Scalise wrote.
Republicans control the Senate committee and DeJoy is scheduled to appear on Friday. Democrats control a home panel before which he is scheduled to appear on Monday.
Lawmakers are expected to media DeJoy for more specifics on the directives he is given. Most of the info about the modifications up to this point has arrived from media reports and the postal employees unions.
Democrats particularly may also just search for reassurances that election email is going to be a priority,'' said Deputy Postmaster General Ronald Stroman. DeJoy did not respond to a group of top election officials who requested a meeting with him last week, NPR reported.
"The Post Office isn't a private company. Its stakeholders will be the people," Stroman said. "So in these situations you owe to the American people to be quite clear and quite transparent about why you are making operational changes."