In a new letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee including Reps. Jamie Raskin (Md.), Kweisi Mfume (Md.), and Gerald “Gerry” Connolly (Va.) outlined serious concerns on their parts with the security of many of the over half a million people employed by the U.S. Postal Service.
In short, there has been an uptick in schemes and attacks targeting postal workers, and there have also been substantial concerns about what on earth those in charge, including DeJoy, are doing to actually address the situation. “What I do know is that Mr. DeJoy hasn’t done anything to rectify the problem,” one witness, who leads the Postal Police Officers Association, said in testimony that the Democrats highlighted in their missive. Attacks on postal staff have included armed robberies and have targeted items known as arrow keys that are used for unlocking what would apparently be drop boxes for mail, meaning that the theft of such items facilitates future threats to the security of whatever’s sent through the mail.
According to numbers evidently produced by the Postal Service itself, there were over 165 armed robberies across a recent period of some six months, though that period is somewhat distant in the past, ending in March of last year. “Given the severity of this issue, we believe it is imperative to take swift and decisive action to protect postal carriers from abuse and restore public confidence in the safety and reliability of our mail system,” Democrats wrote. “We respectfully request that you provide to this Committee no later than June 12, 2023, a detailed plan outlining your past, current, and future efforts to hold thieves and assailants accountable, and better secure the physical safety and wellbeing of postal workers across the country.”
DeJoy, who was appointed to his current role by members of the board of governors overseeing the Postal Service when Trump was still in office, has faced other controversy as well, like declining rates of on-time delivery and potential threats to the process of mail-in voting alongside consolidation plans angled towards business efficiency. Presidents do not have the power to remove the individual holding DeJoy’s position. That’s just the board.
