'Postal Service Overhauls Leadership As Dems. Push Mail Delays Investigation': 'Fri Night Massacre'
'Postal Service overhauls leadership as Democrats press for investigation of mail delays.' Lawmakers want the inspector general to examine Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s cost-cutting measures and investments. By Jacob Bogage, Washington Post, Aug. 7, 2020, 7:10 PM, EDT. - Excerpts, Edited:
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy unveiled a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s mail service, displacing the 2 top executives overseeing day-to-day operations, according to a memo released Friday. The shake-up came as congressional Democrats called for an investigation of DeJoy and the cost-cutting measures that have slowed mail delivery and ensnared ballots in recent primary elections. 23 postal executives were reassigned or displaced. Analysts say the structure centralizes power around DeJoy, a former logistics executive and major ally of President Trump, and de-emphasizes decades of institutional postal knowledge. All told, 33 staffers included in the old postal hierarchy either kept their jobs or were reassigned in the restructuring, with 5 more staffers joining leadership from other roles. The reshuffling threatens to heighten tensions between postal officials & lawmakers, who are troubled by delivery delays.
It adds another layer to DeJoy’s disputes with Democratic leaders, who have pushed him to rescind the cost-cutting directives that have caused days-long backlogs and steady the Postal Service in the run-up to the election. DeJoy clashed with House Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Minority Leader Schumer (D-NY), in a meeting on the issue earlier this week. Rep. Connolly (D-VA), chair of the House subcommittee responsible for postal oversight, called the reorganization “a deliberate sabotage” to the nation’s mail service and a “Trojan Horse.” The Postal Service will implement a hiring freeze, according to the announcement, and will ask for voluntary early retirements. It also will realign into 3 “operating units”- retail & delivery, logistics & processing, & commerce & business solutions. The structure displaces executives with decades of experience, moving some to new positions & others out of leadership roles entirely. Dejoy stated, "As I said in the video remarks released on my first day, ‘I am decisive, and when I see problems, I work to solve them.’
- A customer prepares to drop a letter in a U.S. Postal Service mailbox in New York on Aug. 5. (Spencer Platt/Getty)
Worried postal analysts say the tone of DeJoy’s first 8 weeks and his restructuring have recast the nation’s mail service as a for-profit arm of the government, rather than an essential service. “He keeps referring to the USPS as ‘our business.’ But he’s been appointed postmaster general. You don’t run a business,” said Philip Rubio, a history professor at North Carolina A&T State University and a former postal worker. “He’s not accountable to shareholders. He’s accountable to the American people and Congress.” On Friday, Democrats demanded an investigation of DeJoy’s initiatives. A letter signed by Sen. Warren (D-MA), House Oversight Chair Maloney (D-NY) and 7 others including Connolly, urged Postal Service IG Whitcomb to examine how DeJoy's policies prohibit postal workers from taking overtime or making extra trips to deliver mail on time, and how this delays election mail specifically. “I would absolutely hope the inspector general would look into why the mail is being slowed,” Rubio said. Especially during the pandemic and with America about to vote, this is the worst time to be changing policies.”
DeJoy met Wednesday with Pelosi, Schumer, Treasury Secy. Mnuchin and WH Chief of Staff Meadows to discuss the new mail-handling procedures and the Postal Service’s tenuous financial position. The agency is projected to run out of money between March and Oct. 2021, though it just accessed a $10 bill Treasury loan authorized last week in an early coronavirus relief package. DeJoy said he negotiated the loan terms with Mnuchin. In April, Trump called the Postal Service “a joke” and said he would not approve any emergency funding unless the USPS quadrupled package delivery prices, a move analysts said would quickly bankrupt the agency by chasing away customers to private-sector competitors. DeJoy, at the governors meeting Friday, said that though he has a “good relationship” with Trump - he’s donated more than $2 mill to the Trump campaign or Republican causes since 2016, and chaired the finance committee for the 2020 GOP convention - he does not take direction from Trump on postal issues...
Read the Full Article, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/08/07/postal-service-investigation-dejoy/
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"Friday Night Massacre at USPS, Trump Ally Completely Restructures, Gets Rid of 23 Execs," Daily Kos, Aug. 7, 2020.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/8/7/1967582/-Friday-Night-Massacre-at-USPS-Trump-ally-completely-restructures-gets-rid-of-23-execs
"Friday Night Massacre" at US Postal Service as Postmaster General—a Major Trump Donor—Ousts Top Officials
"America is in a dead sprint to authoritarianism. The man is pulling out all the stops to prevent the citizens of this country from holding a legitimate election in which he might face removal from office." Common Dreams, Aug. 7, 2020.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/07/friday-night-massacre-us-postal-service-postmaster-general-major-trump-donor-ousts
- Postmaster General Louis DeJoy (R) arrives for a meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on August 5, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty)
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It is, thx! I hope yours is going well, too! 
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Charles Koch’s 50-year war on the U.S. Postal Service./Weakening, privatizing, or eliminating the Postal Service at this critical time could severely damage the right to vote, an alternative benefit to the Koch network-https://prospect.org/api/amp/power/one-billionaire-versus-the-mail/
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Honest Elections Project,part of network that pushed supreme court pick Brett Kavanaugh,is now focusing on voting restrictions
Backed by Koch & Betsy DeVos’ family - https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/may/27/honest-elections-project-conservative-voting-restrictions
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https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Honest_Elections_Project
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https://fair.org/home/a-combination-of-forces-puts-our-postal-service-at-grave-risk/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-combination-of-forces-puts-our-postal-service-at-grave-risk
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https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2020/7/15/1961126/-Charles-Koch-s-50-Year-Effort-to-Privatize-USPS-May-Be-on-the-Brink-of-Success-BradCast-7-15-2020
UNROLLED twitter thread: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1290109327202611200.html
