Postmaster General Louis DeJoy didn’t mince words when asked during a congressional hearing six months ago how long he planned to keep his job.
“A long time. Get used to me,” he said. “As far as my commitment to see our plan through, I’m here until I can see it tangibly produce the results we intended to.”
DeJoy’s blueprint for overhauling the U.S. Postal Service, “Delivering for America,” was unveiled in March and has a 10-year timeline—so the controversial executive could conceivably stay put for a decade.
It’s hard to imagine a Donald Trump loyalist criticized for trying to sabotage mail-in balloting by gutting the Postal Service shortly before the 2020 presidential election surviving the early months of President Joe Biden’s administration. But Biden has been busy battling the COVID-19 pandemic and trying to push a bold legislative package through Congress, so DeJoy and the Postal Service’s future might have escaped his attention.
Clouds hang over DeJoy, however. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating him for possible campaign finance violations, and ethics watchdogs recently raised alarms about a $120 million contract the Postal Service awarded to his former employer, XPO Logistics Inc. DeJoy’s spokesmen have denied any wrongdoing related to the FBI probe and said that DeJoy played no role in the XPO contract. (DeJoy’s family divested its XPO stock—worth as much as $155 million—after he became postmaster general, but it still leases office space to the company.)
DeJoy still runs the Postal Service because he maintains the backing of its board of governors. This bipartisan, nine-member body oversees the service’s expenditures and operations and appoints postmasters general—and decides how long their tenures last. Six of the governors, including the board’s chairman, Ron Bloom, are Trump appointees; Biden has appointed three.
Bloom is a Democrat who has repeatedly said he supports DeJoy. Bloom is also a veteran financier and a managing partner at Brookfield Asset Management. DeJoy, according to financial disclosures, has invested in a relatively modest portfolio of Brookfield bonds. A spokesman told the Washington Post that an adviser purchased the bonds and that no conflict exists because the Postal Service doesn’t do business with Brookfield. Bloom oversees private equity operations at Brookfield, not bond sales.
The Postal Service loses billions of dollars annually, and DeJoy’s master plan calls for shoring up its finances by cutting back post office hours and raising rates.
DeJoy thinks that email and other technological advances have made first-class letters, once the postal service’s meal ticket, redundant. He wants the service to invest in and become more competitive around one of its remaining strong suits: package deliveries.
DeJoy’s master plan has been fodder for recent disagreements among the service’s board members. Earlier this month, in the first meeting in more than a decade attended by all nine members, one governor argued that service cutbacks wouldn’t actually save much money, would alienate the public and would undermine the service’s mission to work for all Americans. The Postal Regulatory Commission, which also oversees the service, has agreed with some of those criticisms and said that DeJoy’s plan is based on false assumptions, inadequate testing and too little concern for its impact on customers.
Despite those critiques, both Bloom and DeJoy said in this month’s meeting that they are going to push ahead with DeJoy’s plan. It’s still unclear how the White House feels about that and how it would undertake the Postal Service’s much-needed reinvention. But Bloom’s term ends in December, and if Biden has his own thoughts about the Postal Service’s future, he should replace Bloom with an ally and begin looking for his own postmaster general.
Dejoy is garbage. Need to take out the trash and find someone who is looking to destroy the service
How many government officials can get away with having a business relationship with another government official that manages your performance? How many other government officials can lease space to a private firm that conducts contract work for the agency he runs? After Das Fat Dildo Fuhrer’s actions every action by officials in Washington will be allowed. If a bargaining unit employee tried anything they would be gone in a flash.