“President Biden has made clear his feelings about the current leadership of the Post Office and the challenges he faces, and his team is working as quickly as possible to fill vacancies on the board so that the USPS can effectively fulfill its vital mission for the country and live up to the commitments made to their workers, “Biden spokesman Michael Gwin told CNN.
“DeJoy continues to compromise people’s ability to receive everything from salaries to life-saving drugs, with new postponement tactics and higher postage rates,” wrote Pressley, calling for a complete overhaul of the agency’s leadership. “The current Board of Governors has been complicit in the systematic deterioration of the USPS, a flagrant abandonment of duty that requires rapid removal and replacement.”
Pressley is just the latest lawmaker to publicly call for dramatic action in the United States Postal Service, an agency that was politicized during the Trump administration.
DeJoy told people close to him that he wants to remain in office under the new president, two sources told CNN, and the president does not have the power to remove the general postmaster. Only the Postal Board of Governors – made up of members appointed by the President and confirmed in the Senate – have the competence to do so, and DeJoy continues to count on the support of the board appointed by Trump. But with vacancies and term limits, Biden has the power to appoint board members and send them to the Senate – now led by Democrats – for confirmation.
Behind closed doors, the government has sought to assure lawmakers that filling these seats will be a priority for the president, but has promised nothing more. Many lawmakers say this is not enough.
In a statement to CNN, a spokesman for the Post said that the agency “will welcome all qualified members to the board – a decision reserved for the president and the Senate, who are tasked with appointing and confirming members of the advice”.
This story has been updated with comments from the USPS.