Chairs Maloney and Connolly Issue Statement on New IG Report Confirming Postmaster General’s Changes Caused Major Delays Across the Country
Washington,
October 20, 2020
Tags:
Good Government
Today, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, the Chairwoman of the Committee of Oversight and Reform, and Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, issued the following statements in response a new report from the Postal Service Inspector General on Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s disastrous operational changes:
“Today’s report confirms that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s sweeping changes—which were hastily implemented without analyzing their potential impact—caused serious delays across the country,” said Chairwoman Maloney. “I’m particularly concerned with the IG finding that the Postmaster General was aware of the reduction and elimination of overtime—despite his testimony before our Committee that this was not taking place. The IG found that the Postal Service was not fully forthcoming with Congress and the American people, calling into question whether the Postmaster General is continuing to mislead Congress and the American people to this day.”
“Louis DeJoy and the Postal Service Board of Governors took no steps to understand how their operational changes would affect Postal Service customers who rely on delivery of their prescription medications, vital food products, medical devices, or paychecks—all in the midst of a pandemic,” said Chairman Connolly. “The delays hurt families and added unneeded stress. Mr. DeJoy fancies himself a king of private sector industry, but any CEO who failed to engage his customers would be fired. The Board of Governors needs to do its job and remove him.”
According to the new report from the Inspector General:
Since July, the Committee has been working to hold the Postmaster General accountable for operational changes that caused massive, ongoing delays to the delivery of mail, medicines, and mail-in ballots.
On August 24, 2020, the Committee held a hearing with the Postmaster General and Chairman of the Postal Service Board of Governors, at which they failed to provide adequate answers as to why these changes were made without any consultation or analysis.
As a result, on September 2, 2020, the Committee issued a subpoena to Postmaster General DeJoy for documents related to the delays. The Committee is currently negotiating with the Postal Service over production of additional documents and the investigation is ongoing. |