At the end of a 2.5-hour Senate hearing on April 16, Chairman Gary Peters of the Committee on Government Affairs urged Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to stop consolidating mail processing centers around the country until the first two mega-centers are up to speed.
Good suggestion!
Peters also told the Postal Regulatory Commission – the oversight agency – to study the situation and advise Congress and the public about it.
And, he gave DeJoy two weeks to provide a list of all postal processing centers that would close, be reconfigured, or expand under the plan. He asked for the specific timelines, along with a complete report on everything that has changed so far.
DeJoy evidently isn’t telling anyone what-all he is doing to the postal system — not businesses and individuals like us who need to plan ahead, and not Congress either. Senator after senator at the hearing blasted him for not responding to their previous questions, some of which were asked repeatedly for months.
“You have a really hard job, delivering to every single address,” Peters told DeJoy, taking a reasonable but inarguable tone. “But we just need more transparency. We want some caution, not just believing that a plan works, but being able to back that up with data. We shouldn’t be moving forward before we work out the kinks.”
Frankly, that seems like a bit of an understatement.
At the hearing, DeJoy admitted that he did not know how many days that Donner Pass is closed in the Sierra Nevada mountains, even though his consolidation plan requires Reno, Nev. to ship mail over Donner Pass every day to Sacramento, Calif. for processing. An observer in Michigan, who is as fired up about the consolidation as we are, recently pointed out that people know it is too dangerous to use Donner Pass during winter storms.
Evidently not DeJoy. The Postmaster General of the United States does not have a grip on reality.
Bills introduced
Elected representatives in Congress are introducing a bunch of bills to try to stop the chaos.
The day of the hearing, Rep. Jared Golden of Maine introduced a bill in the House of Representatives to freeze consolidation of mail processing facilities by the USPS.
And soon after the Senate hearing, 22 members of Congress signed a letter to DeJoy saying that consolidating distribution and processing centers would “dismantle parts of the Postal Service’s robust network… creating inefficiencies in the system, especially for local mail.”
The letter was led by two veteran, independent-minded senators — Susan Collins of Maine and Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Thanks to them for the representation.
Also, Rep. Harriet Hageman and Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming introduced legislation – the Postal Operations Stay Timely and Local (POSTAL) act — to prevent USPS from closing, consolidating, or downgrading its processing and distribution centers nationwide if such an action would remove the sole P&DC within a state or negatively impact mail delivery. On the Senate side, the bill is co-sponsored by Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming and on the House side, co-led by Rep. Chris Pappas of New Hampshire.
Sen. Jack Bergman of Michigan and Rep. Nikki Budzinski of Illinois introduced another bill, the Protect Postal Performance Act, to bar the USPS from downsizing processing facilities in regions that are failing to meet targets of 90.3% on-time delivery for 3-5-day first-class mail and 93% on-time delivery for two-day first-class mail.
Sen. Deb Fischer and Rep. Adrian Smith of Nebraska have written open letters to DeJoy, highly critical of the consolidation and the secrecy of the process, and pointing out its harmful effects on rural Nebraska, but they have yet to actively join the legislative efforts. Sen. Pete Ricketts has not voiced an opinion publicly.
This is our postal service — yours and mine. If you need it, like so many of us do, contact our senators and congressman and urge them to represent our needs. Send us a copy and we will keep the public informed.
DeJoy has messed up the mail system. He seems bound and determined to continue to mess it up. If he doesn’t freeze the process and promptly fix the trouble, it is evident that he needs to go.
By George Lauby, Editor & Publisher
© 2024 The North Platte Bulletin. All rights reserved.
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Thanks for the update George,
This idiot has to be a very close relative to ByeDin. No common sense in the group. Burrr! Gets scarier every day
I believe it was actually President Trump that appointed DeJoy as Post Master General.
DeJoy was appointed in May 2020, during the Trump administration, by the nine-member Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service, of which DeJoy is a member. The president appoints the members of the board of governors.
The president can remove a member of the board of governors “for cause.” So apparently, DeJoy could be removed by President Biden.
It really shouldn’t matter…republican or democrat at this point. Mayorkas…DeJoy. So many others in our federal government not serving the interests of the American people. What should matter…what kind of a country will be left to our future generations. If people can’t cross party lines to stop what is happening to this great and free nation of ours…then this once great nation will be lost.
I agree Chuck, time for both parties to get over themselves and do the job they were voted in to do, serve the American citizens.
George, President Biden is not allowed to simply fire the postmaster general, who is appointed by the USPS board of governors. But pursuant to 39 U.S. Code § 202, he can fire members of the board “for cause,” and the board can fire the postmaster general.
You’re on it Terry, that’s in my last talkback.