Postmaster general hearing: 7 takeaways from the contentious House hearing with Louis DeJoy

Washington CNN — Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testified in front of the Democrat-led House Oversight Committee on Monday in a contentious hearing where Democrats criticized his leadership at the agency and raised concerns over mail delivery delays. Maloney admonished DeJoy during the hearing, telling him, “You’re withholding information from us, concealing documents and downplaying the damage that you’re causing.” Referencing documents requested by the committee, Maloney warned, “If you continue to withhold information or otherwise fail to comply, you can expect a subpoena.” The House Oversight chairwoman rebuked the postmaster general, saying that if any CEO had the kind of “plummeting record” that the Postal Service has had under his leadership so far, “I can’t imagine why he would be kept on.” DeJoy responded sharply, saying, “That’s an unfair accusation.” Later during the hearing, Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York asked DeJoy for a commitment to submit records of his daily calendar to the committee. As DeJoy described on Monday actions he has taken as postmaster general, he conceded that there has been a “temporary service decline.” One action was to direct “a plan to improve our adherence to the transportation schedule of our over 40,000 trips a day.” DeJoy said the postal service “accomplished this goal.” But he noted, “We have had temporary service decline, which should not have happened,” adding, “We are fixing this.” The postmaster general said another change he made was “installing a new organizational reporting structure,” which he said would “instill greater accountability for performance and to focus the organization on service and growth.” He argued that these changes “will be the catalyst for significant improvements in cost, performance and growth” for the Postal Service. Later during the hearing, DeJoy said definitively, “We will be able to handle all election mail for the 2020 election.” … but concedes concern over ‘deterioration in service’ Pressed by Democrats over a mail slowdown, DeJoy conceded that the Postal Service is “concerned with the deterioration in service,” but argued that the agency is recovering amid a focus on improvements. USPS board chair describes how DeJoy got top job Mike Duncan, chairman of the USPS Board of Governors who was also a witness at the same hearing as DeJoy, testified virtually about how the board selected DeJoy to serve as postmaster general, calling it an “organized, deliberate, through search process.” Duncan said that the board agreed that “the Postal Service would benefit from a transformational leader.” The testimony comes amid increasing scrutiny from Democrats over how DeJoy got the top job at USPS.