Postmaster says election mail will go through despite cuts

President of Florida letter carriers union says USPS shouldn't be political football

WASHINGTON – New Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said Friday he has no plans to restore mailboxes and other agency cuts made since he took over in June, sparking fresh questions over how the Postal Service will ensure timely delivery of an expected surge of mail-in ballots for the November election.

It was DeJoy's first time publicly answering questions since summer mail delays brought a public outcry. Testifying before a Senate committee, the ally of President Donald Trump said ”it was his “sacred duty” that ballots arrive on time. But he told senators he did not yet have a plan for handling a crush of election mail.

From the White House, Trump delivered fresh complaints over the mail-in ballots expected with the coronavirus pandemic. As he did, the House pushed ahead with plans for a rare Saturday vote to block the postal cutbacks and funnel $25 billion to shore up operations.

DeJoy declared that the Postal Service “is fully capable and committed to delivering the nation’s election mail securely and on-time.” He distanced himself from Trump's objections about widescale mail-in voting and said ensuring ballots arrive was his ”No. 1 priority between now and Election Day.”

The outcry over mail delays and warnings of political interference have put the Postal Service at the center of the nation's tumultuous election year, with Americans of both parties rallying around one of the nation's oldest and more popular institutions.

The new postmaster general, a Trump donor who took the job at the start of summer to revamp the agency, is facing a backlash over changes since his arrival. Democrats warn his cost-cutting initiatives are causing an upheaval that threatens the election.

With mounting pressure, DeJoy promised this week to postpone any further changes until after the election, saying he wanted to avoid even the perception of interference. A number of blue mailboxes have been removed, back-of-shop sorting equipment has been shut down and overtime hours have been limited.

The I-TEAM is unaware of any high-capacity mail sorting machines or blue collection boxes being removed in the Jacksonville area, but it’s happened in other parts of the state and the country and the president of Florida’s postal workers’ union said the damage has already been done.

“You scared the hell out of the American companies and the American people that you can’t count on letter carriers and post employees anymore,” said Al Friedman president of the Florida State Association of Letter Carriers. “That’s devastating to us because we had a long history of being there every day to do our jobs that have to

Friedman said agencies like the VA Hospital are already looking into other options like FedEx to deliver large portions of their medications. Friedman said the changes made by DeJoy and the statement made by President Trump calling the Postal Service a “disaster” have had a detrimental effect on USPS. Friedman said he wants to stop the politicization of the service.

″We want to stop being that political football. Leave us out of the politics,” Friedman said. “I’ll leave the politics to the Senate and to the House and to the president … but keep us out of it. Just let us do our job. Don’t use this as an instrument to threaten people that you can’t vote by mail.”

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said during Friday’s hearing that the public’s concern is understandable, particularly given Trump’s efforts to stop universal mail-in ballots. Many states are encouraging mail-in voting in response to voters’ pandemic-related fears of going to crowded polling centers on Election Day.

Trump has said he wants to block agency emergency funding that would help the service handle a great increase in mail-in ballots.

At Friday’s hearing, DeJoy said he’d had “no idea” equipment was being removed until the public outcry. Now that it’s widely known, Democrats pressed him for his plan to ensure election mail and ballots arrive on time.

“Do you have a more detailed plan?” demanded Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, asking for it by Sunday.

“I don’t think we’ll have a complete plan by Sunday night,” DeJoy replied, acknowledging it was just being formed.

He is expected to testify before the House on Monday.

Meanwhile, attorneys general in Pennsylvania, California, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Washington D.C., filed a lawsuit on Friday to halt the changes. In all, some 20 states and several voting rights groups are now suing.

As House Democrats prepare for Saturday's vote, Republicans are mounting a counter-offensive, saying the concerns about mail delivery are overblown and the money is unnecessary.

In a memo to House Republicans, leaders called the legislation a “conspiracy theory” by Democrats to “spread fear and misinformation” about mail operations.

Nevertheless, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is eyeing a $10 billion postal rescue as part of the next COVID-19 relief package. The White House has said it would be open to more postal funding as part of a broader bill.

The Postal Service has been struggling financially under a decline in mail volume, COVID-related costs and a rare and critics say cumbersome congressional requirement to fund in advance its retiree health care benefits.

For many, the Postal Service provides a lifeline, delivering not just cards and letters but also prescription drugs, financial statements and other items that are especially needed by mail during the pandemic.

The postal board of governors, appointed by Trump, selected DeJoy to take his job. A GOP donor, he previously owned a logistics business that was a longtime Postal Service contractor. He maintains significant financial stakes in companies that do business or compete with the agency, raising conflict of interest questions.

In a statement, the Postal Service said DeJoy has made all required financial disclosures but that he might have to divest some holdings if conflicts arise.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, whose role in postal operations is being questioned by Senate Democrats, said in a letter to Democratic leader Chuck Schumer that he had no hand in “recruiting or suggesting” DeJoy for the job.

Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union, said he would judge the postmaster by “deeds, and a lot of what he said did not comport with the facts on the ground.”

Republicans have long sought postal reforms to run the agency more like a private company, and Trump often complains the Postal Service should be charging Amazon and other companies higher rates for package deliveries. Mnuchin told Schumer he was reviewing those contracts.

Others say the Postal Service is not expected to be solely a money-making enterprise, often delivering to far-flung places where it is not efficient to operate.

David C. Williams, the former vice chairman of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors, on Thursday told lawmakers that he resigned from the board, in part, over DeJoy's selection, and because he believed the White House was taking extraordinary steps to turn the independent agency into a “political tool.”

Associated Press writer Bruce Schreiner in Frankfort, Kentucky, contributed to this report.


About the Authors:

Tarik anchors the 4, 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. weekday newscasts and reports with the I-TEAM.