Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is testifying before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Monday, amid rising concerns about delays in mail delivery ahead of the November election. Democrats are expecting to grill DeJoy for overseeing a series of recent operational changes, such as eliminating most overtime and ending extra package deliveries.
Robert Duncan, the president of the USPS Board of Governors, is also testifying remotely at the hearing.
“Our entire country is experiencing these delays as a result of Mr. DeJoy’s actions,” Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney said in her opening statement, pinning the blame on his changes for recent delays in mail delivery.
DeJoy defended his stewardship of the Postal Service, reiterating that the USPS is “fully capable and committed to delivering the nation’s ballots securely and on-time.”
The hearing comes after the House passed a bill on Saturday that would provide an additional $25 billion to the U.S. Postal Service, reverse the recent changes and prevent the agency from implementing any new changes until January 2021. Democrats say they are concerned that President Trump is deliberately trying to curtail mail delivery to making casting absentee ballots more difficult.
House Democrats pressed DeJoy on his oversight of these changes, and how this may affect the influx of mail-in ballots in the coming election due to the coronavirus pandemic. DeJoy insisted in a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Friday that his “number one priority” is to ensure election mail is received on time.
They are also expected to ask the postmaster general about his relationship with Mr. Trump, since DeJoy is a prominent Republican donor. Two lawmakers on the committee, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi and Congresswoman Katie Porter, sent a letter to one of the members of the USPS Board of Governors last week raising concerns about how DeJoy was chosen as postmaster general.
