- Postmaster DeJoy testified Wednesday at a hearing by the House Oversight Committee on the postal crisis.
- On the same day, Biden appointed three people to open positions on the agency’s board of directors.
- If all are confirmed by the Senate, the board would potentially have the necessary votes to remove DeJoy
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After weeks of increasing pressure from Democrats, President Joe Biden appointed three candidates to open positions on the US Postal Board on Wednesday as a first step towards securing control of the agency that has become a point of contention under the Trump administration last year.
Biden has appointed two Democrats and a voting defender – Ron Stroman, Anton Hajjar and Amber McReynolds – to the agency’s board of governors, according to The Washington Post. Stroman previously served as deputy general postmaster, Hajjar served as former general counsel for the American Postal Workers Union and McReynolds is the chief executive of the National Vote at Home Institute.
If all three are confirmed by the Senate, Democrats will essentially gain an advantage over the governing body, which will have equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans and an independent in McReynolds, whose organization is loved by the left, according to the Post.
The council would then have the potential votes to oust the current postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, who received criticism last summer over an agency reform that slowed the mail service and caused concern about the agency’s ability to handle the influx of matching ballots for the 2020 general election.
DeJoy has faced repeated calls for his resignation since the summer, with some progressive lawmakers asking Biden to remove the entire board of governors as a way to fill the body with people who would support DeJoy’s removal, according to Politico.
Biden’s three nominees also mark a significant step towards the diversification of the governing body, currently composed only of men, mainly whites. Of the Biden nominees, Stroman is black, McReynolds is a woman and Hajjar provides legal advice to the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Politico said.
In sharp contrast to its governing body, the United States Postal Service is disproportionately black and female when compared to the rest of the federal workforce, the Pew Research Center showed in a May 2020 report.
At a meeting of the House Reform and Supervisory Committee on Wednesday, Representative Cori Bush of Missouri questioned DeJoy about the council’s lack of diversity, comparing the group to a “millionaire white boys club”.
DeJoy stepped back, reminding lawmakers that the president is responsible for appointing board members and that the Senate is responsible for confirming them, while noting that the agency “would love to have a diverse board”.
According to Politico, DeJoy “seemed disturbed” at times during Wednesday’s hearing by lines of questioning and discussion by certain members about the critical media coverage the USPS faced during his tenure.
He remained defiant, telling lawmakers that he is not going anywhere and that he plans to stay “too long”, the vehicle said.
But later that day, the White House signaled that it may have other plans for the distressed postman.
“He [Biden] believes the leadership can do better, and we look forward to having the board of governors in place, “said press secretary Jen Psaki when asked if the president was interested in replacing DeJoy, according to The Hill.
Lawmakers also questioned DeJoy about his next plan for the agency, which, according to The Post, will include higher prices and slower delivery. He reportedly told committee members that a strategic plan for the USPS should be ready in March.
DeJoy acknowledged that the USPS experienced major delivery delays during the holiday season, citing problems with the agency’s air transport network as the cause.
The agency has reported losses of billions in recent years, according to Politico, and postal council chairman Ron Bloom told lawmakers on Wednesday that the agency is expected to lose about $ 160 billion in the next decade if reform measures fail. taken.
“The years of financial stress, underinvestment, unattainable service standards and lack of operational accuracy have resulted in a system that lacks adequate resilience to adjust and adapt to changing circumstances,” DeJoy reportedly testified, arguing that the agency’s structural problems preceded your arrival.
Most Republicans defended DeJoy during the hearing and accused his Democratic colleagues of defaming the postmaster general about how the agency handled postal ballots before the 2020 election, which led to “tense exchanges” between members sometimes during the election. audience, The Post reported.
Several of the operational changes made to the USPS last summer under DeJoy were halted in August after public protests over the growing crisis. The agency’s internal supervisory body found in October that changes combined with COVID-19 staffing problems “negatively impacted the quality and punctuality of mail delivery,” according to the Politico.