On Wednesday, a full 80 House Democrats sent a letter to President Joe Biden calling for the immediate appointment of three new members to the Board of Governors for the Postal Service. These new members would fill current vacancies and enact a Democratic majority on the nine-member board, and this Democratic majority could oust controversial Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who was appointed by the board when ex-President Trump was still in power. Only the Board of Governors can appoint Postmaster Generals, so presidents hoping for a change of leadership at the Postal Service have to go through members of the board.
The signatories calling for the change in leadership at the Postal Service were led by Reps. Alma S. Adams (D-N.C.), Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), and Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), and they called for Biden to make new appointments to the board “as expeditiously as possible.” They added, in part, as follows:
‘We do not doubt that the Postal Service requires some thoughtful reforms in order to continue to provide excellent service to the American people in the years to come; however, there is a plethora of evidence that Postmaster General DeJoy is not equipped to meet the rigors of these challenges. Filling the vacant seats on the Postal Service’s Board of Governors with strong, passionate advocates for the institution will allow it to function in a nonpartisan manner.’
All of the current members of the Postal Service Board of Governors, including two Democrats, were appointed by Trump. The Biden administration has already stated that the president intends to appoint “officials who reflect his commitment to the workers of the U.S. Postal Service,” but it’s not yet clear when exactly these prospective appointments will take place. In the meantime, the House Oversight Committee has scheduled a hearing for February 24 with DeJoy and other top officials from the Postal Service in order to “discuss the agency’s future,” Forbes explains.
Under DeJoy’s leadership, on-time delivery rates plummeted. In late December of last year, only 38 percent of non-local first class mail arrived on time — at the beginning of the year, before DeJoy took over, about 79 percent of that category of mail was delivered on time. These slowdowns unfolded alongside a sharply increased nationwide usage of mall-in voting for the 2020 presidential election, among other related potential issues.
A stunning illustration of how USPS service dropped off a cliff after DeJoy took over. https://t.co/GA4E2zIGUY pic.twitter.com/DWsEF17fPt
— Christopher Ingraham (@_cingraham) February 8, 2021
