Washington — Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who has been at the center of controversy over cost-cutting changes to the U.S. Postal Service that led to concerns about the ability to handle mail-in ballots for the November election, is testifying Friday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
DeJoy, a major Republican donor and close ally of President Trump, is appearing before the Republican-led panel to answer questions about the mail agency’s finances and operations during the coronavirus pandemic, which has exacerbated the Postal Service’s fiscal woes, and the upcoming general election.
Installed as the postmaster general in June, DeJoy implemented a series of operational changes designed to save the struggling Postal Service money, curtailing overtime and prohibiting postal workers from making extra trips for late-arriving mail. Under his oversight of the agency, there have also been reports of blue mail collection boxes being removed and a reduction in large mail-sorting machines.
The shifts, however, led to a slowdown in mail delivery, and the Postal Service warned 46 states that mail-in ballots may not be received in time to be counted as it prepared for an influx of voters taking advantage of vote-by-mail because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The mail delays and subsequent warning about the November election led to an avalanche of calls from congressional Democrats and some Republicans for DeJoy to reverse his changes. As public pressure swelled, the postmaster general announced Tuesday he would be halting some of the initiatives until after the election.
Still, the House is set to convene Saturday to vote on legislation that would prohibit the Postal Service from implementing changes to operations or levels of service until after the pandemic. DeJoy will also appear before the Democrat-led House Oversight and Reform Committee on Monday.
