Tag: Trump Postmaster General DeJoy

Louis DeJoy’s chaotic first year at USPS: A litany of political controversies, mail delays and FBI investigations

AlterNet Logo

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has only been in office one year and, since he was appointed to head the U.S. Postal Service last May, he has been at the center of controversy. Now, for his first-year anniversary, his office has released a statement confirming he is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), according to USA Today.

A spokesperson for DeJoy confirmed, “the Justice Department is investigating campaign funds involving his former North Carolina business New Breed Logistics.” The Washington Post also reported that a number of DeJoy’s current and former employees had been interviewed by the Justice Department and asked about company activities and their political contributions.

The announcement comes months after DeJoy incorporated a number of controversial changes that subsequently impacted the Postal Service’s ability to effectively carry out day-to-day operations. Last June, then-Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) penned a letter to the board of governors, the Federal Reserve System’s governing body which is responsible for DeJoy’s appointment, to verbalize his concerns about the postmaster. Continue reading.

FBI investigating Postmaster General DeJoy over campaign fundraising activity

Axios Logo

The FBI is investigating Postmaster General Louis DeJoy over campaign fundraising activity involving his former business, a spokesman for DeJoy confirmed to the Washington Post.

Why it matters: DeJoy, a major donor to former President Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee, has seen his tenure plagued by controversy since his appointment in May 2020. 

The state of play: Prosecutors have subpoenaed DeJoy for information regarding political contributions and his company’s activities, the Post reports. Continue reading.

Biden Nominees Poised To Take Control Of Postal Service, Oust DeJoy

National Memo logo

A Senate committee voted in favor of President Joe Biden’s three nominees for governing board overseeing the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).

According to the Associated Press, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Wednesday approved the president’s three nominees: “Ron Stroman, a former deputy postmaster general; Amber McReynolds, who leads the nonprofit National Vote at Home Institute; and Anton Hajjar, the former general counsel of the American Postal Workers Union.”

The vote comes as lawmakers train their focus on restoring public confidence and trust in the U.S. Postal Service. Since last year, the postal service has undergone a number of drastic changes under the leadership of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a known supporter of President Donald Trump and a major donor for the Republican Party. Continue reading.

Postal Service to announces plans to consolidate 18 mail facilities

The Hill logo

The U.S. Postal Service announced plans to consolidate 18 mail facilities across the country on Wednesday.

“Consistent with optimization and efficiency efforts paused in 2015, USPS will complete movement of mail processing operations at 18 facilities,” an announcement by the agency states.

The consolidation of these facilities is part of a 10-year infrastructure plan aimed at “financial sustainability and service excellence.” Continue reading.

Meet Biden’s Postal Service nominees, who could add pressure on Louis DeJoy

Washington Post logo

Skepticism of the postmaster general looms large in the confirmation hearings for Democrats Ron Stroman and Anton Hajjar and independent Amber McReynolds

President Biden’s three nominees to the U.S. Postal Service’s governing board could fundamentally tilt the balance of power at the beleaguered mail agency and add pressure on Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

If they win Senate confirmation, the nominees — Democrats Ron Stroman and Anton Hajjar, and independent Amber McReynolds — would serve on a board that historically operates by consensus, delivering decisions with unanimity and through scripted public meetings. They also would give Democrats and Biden appointees a one-seat majority and potentially the votes to remove DeJoy, under whose oversight the mail service has recorded sharp declines in mail delivery standards. But the board’s two sitting Democrats, Chairman Ron Bloom and Donald Lee Moak, have publicly supported the postmaster general.

Political divisions among board members — and between the board and Democrats in Congress — have quietly percolated since former president Donald Trump tried to meddle in mail operations by leveraging the Postal Service’s finances, then hamper the agency’s ability to send and collect mail ballots. Continue reading.

Democrats introduce ‘DeJoy Act’ in opening salvo against USPS leader’s mail-slowing plan

Washington Post logo

Prospects for the legislation are unclear, but the move displays deep divisions between the postmaster general and Congress

Democrats are swarming to block a key piece of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s 10-year restructuring plan for the U.S. Postal Service, casting doubt on the feasibility of his proposals for achieving financial stability for the agency.

A group of House Democrats on Friday introduced legislation to prohibit the Postal Service from lengthening mail-delivery windows and require it to adhere to present service expectations. They named the bill the Delivering Envelopes Judiciously On-time Year-round Act, or DEJOY Act.

One House aide involved in postal reform legislation introduced in February said some members of the caucus are leery of proceeding with efforts to address the Postal Service’s financial obligations given that DeJoy’s 10-year plan includes sharp reductions in service, including slower timetables for mail delivery and reduced post office hours. Continue reading.

What you should know about USPS — and how it descended into crisis

Washington Post logo

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is days away from announcing his plan for the Postal Service to restore timely service and solve more than a decade of financial problems

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is expected to roll out his plan to reshape the nation’s mail service, making a deeper imprint on a government agency that has weathered a pandemic, a historic election and a crushing holiday season during his brief tenure.

The blueprint is sure to cause further delivery slowdowns — DeJoy said as much during a recent hearing on Capitol Hill — at a time when the U.S. Postal Service already is recording some of its worst performance metrics in generations. Cost-cutting measures the postal chief implemented over the summer have been blamed for much of those declines.

But the agency — and DeJoy’s role — is widely misunderstood. Here’s eight common misconceptions: Continue reading.

‘It definitely stinks’: Lawmaker demands investigation of huge stock buy just before DeJoy announced USPS vehicle contract

Raw Story Logo

A Democratic congressman is demanding that the Securities and Exchange Commission investigate a shady $54 million purchase of Oshkosh Corporation stock just hours before scandal-ridden Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced the decision to award that company with a lucrative 10-year contract to produce a new, largely gasoline-powered fleet of U.S. Postal Service delivery trucks.

“This contract was awarded to Oshkosh Corporation and is worth up to $6 billion,” Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) wrote in a letter to Acting SEC Chair Allison Herren Lee on Monday. “I write to pass along reports of what might be unusual trading of Oshkosh stock that took place less than 24 hours before Postmaster General Louis DeJoy publicly announced the contract decision in front of a House panel on February 23rd.”

“It definitely stinks and needs to be looked into at the highest levels. If that is not suspicious, I don’t know what is. Somebody clearly knew something.”
—Rep. Tim Ryan

“Specifically, an over $54 million purchase of OSK, made 20 hours before Mr. DeJoy’s announcement, was brought to my attention on social media and in news reports,” Ryan continued. “Additionally, it is my understanding that the OSK stock rose significantly prior to the announcement. Given the gravity and serious implications of this contract, I am writing to request that the Securities and Exchange Commission look into this issue as soon as possible.” Continue reading.

Biden inherited a USPS crisis. Here’s how Democrats want to fix it.

Washington Post logo

Party leaders have already begun discussions on major legislation — and trying to force out Louis DeJoy

The nation’s mail service is slower and more erratic than it’s been in generations, via the confluence of an abrupt reorganization and pandemic-era anomalies that has fueled demands for reform and fundamentally different ideas on how to achieve it.

On one side is Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who, with the backing of the U.S. Postal Service’s governing board, is expected as soon as next week to outline a new vision for the agency, one that includes more service cuts, higher and region-specific pricing, and lower delivery expectations.

But congressional Democrats are pressing President Biden to install new board members, creating a majority bloc that could oust DeJoy, a Trump loyalist whose aggressive cost-cutting over the summer has been singled out for much of the performance decline. The fight over the agency’s future is expected to be fraught and protracted, leaving Americans with unreliable mail delivery for the foreseeable future. Continue reading.

USPS releases DeJoy calendar that is ‘almost entirely redacted’ — months after AOC demand and federal suit

AlterNet logo

Nearly four months after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez first demanded that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy turn over his daily calendar, the U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday released documents rendered almost completely useless by heavy redactions concealing who DeJoy met with as he worked to implement his destructive overhaul of mail operations.

The Postal Service released DeJoy’s calendar in response to a public records lawsuit filed in September by watchdog group American Oversight, which was not at all amused by what it finally received from the agency.

“Shrouding his calendar in secrecy likely violates the letter of the law, and certainly violates its spirit,” Austin Evers, executive director of American Oversight, told HuffPost. “DeJoy works for the public, but you wouldn’t know it from his calendar. Even in the Trump era, this is an extraordinary level of obfuscation.” Continue reading.