The Postmaster General at times seemed troubled by the line of interrogations of members of Congress, as well as by critical media coverage of him and the USPS on his watch.
DeJoy emphatically noted that he is not a president, and at one point intervened to correct a Democratic commission member who characterized him as a “Trump remnant.”
“I’m not a politician,” he said. “I would really appreciate it if you made that clear.”
DeJoy’s comments came when he, postal driver Ron Bloom, and other officials testified about the need for legislation to support the financial position of the service.
The USPS has reported billions in net losses per year for the past several years, and Bloom testified that it is expected to lose about $ 160 billion over the next 10 years without major reforms.
A proposal to require postal workers to enroll in Medicare, potentially saving more than $ 40 billion over the next decade, and to scrap the requirement that USPS pre-finance the health benefits of retirees was a rare point of agreement between DeJoy and others.
But “it doesn’t solve the problem,” said DeJoy.
“We are in a death spiral,” he said. “We cannot continue to lose money, even with this legislation.”
DeJoy acknowledged the post’s performance slumped last year, but said the USPS is facing structural issues that had been revealed years before his appointment last year.
“The years of financial stress, underinvestment, unattainable service standards and a lack of operational precision have resulted in a system that does not have enough resilience to adapt and adapt to changing circumstances,” he said.
DeJoy told committee members that a strategic plan should be ready sometime in March. But several possible changes he envisioned beforehand – including lowering delivery standards for first-class mail and reducing the use of airplanes to transport mail across the country – drew a chilly reception from Congress.
“It sounds like your solution to the problems you’ve identified is just surrender,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin (DM.d.). “You are actually saying that because the mail came too late under your leadership, we are just going to change the standards and build it into the system.”
DeJoy disputed such characterizations, but testified that postal workers “evaluate all service standards.” He also said the goal is to get rid of the department’s budget deficit.
‘We are not looking for profit. We are out to break even, ”he said.
Republicans on the committee largely defended DeJoy, accusing their Democratic counterparts of unfairly vilifying the Postmaster General and his attempts to reform the postal service.
“I wish we had given you more credit for that instead of trying to doubt you and nitpick and micromanage you,” said Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas).
Republicans argued that he was being scapegoated, mainly because of the way the ballots were handled in the run-up to the November election, an attitude that sometimes led to spirited exchanges between committee members.
Several of the changes made under DeJoy last year were halted in response to heated outrage over the mounting delays. In October, the USPS internal watchdog determined that the upheaval, coupled with staffing challenges related to the coronavirus, “was negatively impacting the quality and timeliness of mail delivery.” The Inspector General’s report also found shortcomings in the way that policy was implemented.
For weeks, Democrats have pressured Biden to take steps to remove DeJoy, and the president has vowed to promptly appoint new members to the council that oversees the postmaster general. There are three open seats on the USPS board of directors, although some Democrats have urged Biden to remove the entire board to fill it with people susceptible to getting rid of DeJoy – a dramatic move that legal experts would argue in court.
The Postmaster General testified to Congress in the fall about concerns about long delays in the delivery of paychecks, medication and other critical mail. At the time, Democrats were also concerned about the effect the declining performance would have on postal voting, even accusing DeJoy of wanting to influence the election in Trump’s favor.