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Democrats have called for the investigation of the United States Postal Service and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy after he announced changes to its operations.
According to The Grio, DeJoy, who was appointed postmaster general in May, released a memo Friday saying two top executives would be removed from their roles overseeing day-to-day operations. Additionally, the memo announced 23 postal executives have been reassigned or displaced.
House Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-VA), chair of the House subcommittee responsible for postal oversight, called the reorganization “a deliberate sabotage” to the nation’s mail service and a “Trojan Horse.”
Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL) tweeted Friday that she is “not going to let Trump & Republicans undermine our postal service.”
Thank you ltr carriers & postal workers! You are our lifelines, especially during Covid. You safely deliver medications, ballots & our cherished mail. I am not going to let Trump & Republicans undermine our postal service. That’s why we have support for USPS in the #HEROESAct.
— US Rep Kathy Castor (@USRepKCastor) August 7, 2020
An anonymous postal service staffer told the Washington Post DeJoy’s choices and efforts to reassign people less than 100 days from the election is confusing.
“One of the things that’s led to a lot of head scratching is how some of these folks have been reassigned. We’re not sure he put the right players in the right spots, but maybe he sees something we don’t,” the staffer said.
Nine Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) are now pushing Postal Service Inspector General Tammy Whitcomb to look into DeJoy.
The Post also reported that DeJoy and his wife have between $30 million and $75 million in assets in postal service competitors or contractors, meaning he could be trying to sabotage the agency to get the jump on replacing it.
Since DeJoy has taken over the USPS, he has canceled overtime, prohibited carriers from waiting for delayed shipments, and making them leave mail at distribution centers if picking it up would delay them from their routes.
In March, Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Gerry Connolly (D-VA) said the USPS would run out of money if it did not receive an infusion of cash,
A bipartisan bill in the Senate known as the Postal Service Emergency Assistance Act would provide $25 billion for the USPS. The act was introduced by Sen. Susan Collins, (R-Maine), and co-sponsored by Sens. Diane Feinstein, (D-Calif.), Steve Daines, (R-Mt.), Doug Jones, (D-Ala.), and Jon Tester, (D-Mt.).
The funds would be used to cover COVID-19 related losses or expenses. It would also require the USPS to develop a “plan to ensure the long-term solvency” of the USPS and ensure it has immediate access to the $10 billion line of credit with the U.S. Treasury that Congress authorized in April.
However, it’s one of more than a hundred bills stuck in the Senate as Mitch McConnell has declined to put them up for a vote.
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