Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told a House oversight panel that the mail delays following new efficiency reforms will be resolved quickly and clashed with Democrats who accused him of working with President Trump to thwart the Nov. 3 election.
“Transitions don’t always go smoothly. We should have cleared it up quicker,” DeJoy, a Trump appointee and prominent GOP donor, told the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Monday. “We have the focus on it now, and it should recover quite rapidly going forward.”
Democrats accuse DeJoy of removing mail sorting machines and purposely slowing mail delivery to benefit Trump ahead of the November election.
Trump opposes mass mail-in balloting, which many states are using due to the coronavirus pandemic. He and others argue that it leaves the election vulnerable to fraud and other significant problems.
DeJoy clashed with Democrats over their accusations, arguing that the only reform he put in place was an order to move the Postal Service’s 40,000 trucks on time.
“What the heck are you doing?” Rep. Stephen Lynch, a Massachusetts Democrat, demanded at one point. Lynch asked DeJoy if he would reinstate the postal sorting machines that he removed this year under a long-planned realignment of the post office that began long before DeJoy’s June 16 arrival.
“No, I will not,” DeJoy responded to Lynch during the testy exchange.
“You’re getting a berating up here,” Rep. Ralph Norman, a South Carolina Republican said, apologizing to DeJoy regarding the treatment.
DeJoy acknowledged the effort to move trucks on time contributed to unanticipated delays. Trucks in some cases are leaving partly filled or empty, Democrats reported. DeJoy said he’s working to fix the delays but is not cutting overtime or making any other changes in an effort to thwart mail delivery or hurt the mail-in balloting process. DeJoy said the effort to move trucks on time was not meant to lead to trucks leaving without mail and packages.
“The rest of your accusations are actually outrageous,” he said to Lynch.
This is the second hearing in a week for DeJoy.
He appeared before a Senate oversight panel on Friday.
DeJoy repeated much of his testimony from Friday, including assurances that the Postal Service will be able to handle mail-in ballots ahead of the election.
Trump appointed DeJoy to reform the Postal Service. DeJoy told the panel he’s working on changes to both improve and expand service and reduce waste.
Democrats, who control the majority on the House panel, suggested that DeJoy is breaking the law by slowing mail in a way that could influence the Nov. 3 election.
Rep. Jim Cooper, a Tennessee Democrat, told DeJoy it’s a felony to tamper with the mail. He compared DeJoy to Roger Stone, a former associate of Trump’s whose prison sentence for lying to Congress was commuted by the president.
“Previous postmasters general have been punished for much smaller conflicts of interest than yours,” Cooper said, noting DeJoy is a prominent donor to the GOP. “Are your mail delays implicit campaign contributions? Is your backup plan to be pardoned like Roger Stone?”
DeJoy responded: “Pitiful. Not worth a comment.”
The House convened for an emergency session Saturday and passed a bill that would provide $25 billion to the financially troubled postal agency, which is on track to lose $9 billion this year and is on a financially unsustainable path, a government oversight report found. The measure would also force DeJoy to reverse any realignment and block any new changes.
DeJoy told the panel that the Postal Service has enough money to keep operating until mid-2021.
