- That's Louis DeJoy,
a business executive, Trump megadonor,
who, by the way,
DeJoy is the first person in nearly two decades
to become a Postmaster General
who was not selected from the Postal Service's ranks,
but DeJoy was a shoe-in nonetheless.
He was appointed by the Postal Services' Board of Governors,
who have deep ties to the GOP and Mitch McConnell.
DeJoy himself donated over
and
I'm PJ Evans, the writer of this show,
and this is what's going on with the US Postal Service,
Trump, and DeJoy.
- I guess I was an entrepreneur once, when I first started.
The rest of my life was implementing
and operating my plan.
- [PJ] As a North Carolina businessman,
DeJoy has significant investments in companies
that compete or do business with the US Postal Service,
aka USPS, including financial interests
in private delivery competitors to the USPS,
meaning he stands to benefit
if the public service went private.
- He's a fantastic man.
He wants to make the Post Office great again.
- [PJ] DeJoy has already taken drastic measures
to upend American democracy as the nation largely looks
to vote by mail amid a global pandemic,
Under DeJoy's leadership,
the USPS has removed high-speed mail-sorting machines
from facilities, which would be used
to sort ballots come November 3rd.
One report says they
right before the election.
As if that weren't enough,
they've unbolted corner mailboxes,
eliminated employee overtime,
mandated that mail be kept until the next day
if distribution centers are running behind,
and, as USA Today notes,
DeJoy has also restructured the USPS by
He has also banned employees from making extra trips
to deliver mail.
DeJoy argues these drastic measures are meant
to save the Post Office from further economic ruin,
as the service has experienced cash shortages
in recent years.
However, critics point out that this financial crisis
at the Postal Service is largely self-imposed
by a law Congress passed in 2006,
which mandated that the Postal Service
to the tune of
but one former game-show host turned President
of these United States, doesn't seem
to have that crucial fact on his radar.
- It's run very badly,
so we wanna make sure that the Post Office runs properly
and doesn't lose billions of dollars.
Somebody said it lost $78 billion
over a relatively short period of time.
- [PJ] Trump has been candid about his war
on the Post Office.
He's insisted that the USPS is a joke,
and if they want Coronavirus aid,
they need to jack up the prices on packages
He told Fox Business,
adding, if they don't get the funds,
Trump has repeatedly claimed, without evidence,
that mail ballots lead to widespread voter fraud.
It's worth noting that he
and Melania have requested mail-in ballots in Florida.
It seems this claim of voter fraud is a disguise
for his real push, though.
Mark Dimondstein, the president
of the American Postal Workers Union,
explains the DeJoy and Trump agenda plainly.
As it stands, the USPS is America's
most popular government agency.
It is one of the country's oldest institutions.
In fact,
Over
But with the recent measures DeJoy is taking
to sabotage the Postal Service, the public may sour on it.
Nathan J. Robinson of Current Affairs notes,
By trying to put the USPS in a bad light,
Trump and DeJoy are not only undermining
America's democratic process,
they are delaying mail-order medicines
to our country's military veterans and elderly population,
causing them to miss doses of vital medications.
To protect American democracy and lives,
USPS needs to function smoothly,
especially during a pandemic,
where the consequences are literally dire.
Almost
but this administration doesn't seem worried
about stripping away vital resources,
which hurt efficient and safe functionality
within the United States Postal Service.
It seems worried about only one thing,
maintaining power by any means necessary.
Since its founding in 1775, when Benjamin Franklin
was appointed the first
the United States Postal Service has been just that,
a service.
The unofficial motto of the USPS,
chiseled above the historic New York City Post Office
on 33rd, reads,
DeJoy is doing everything in his power
to make this mission that much harder.
Recently, Louis DeJoy testified before the House
about his apparent war on the United States Post Office.
- Will you be bringing back any mail-sorting machines
that have been removed
since you've become Postmaster General.
Will any of those come back?
- There's no intention to do that.
They're not needed, sir.
- [Sen. Peters] So you will not bring back any processors.
- They're not needed, sir.
- [PJ] Before that testimony, DeJoy released a statement,
saying in part,
Although DeJoy claims to be complying
to avoid even the appearance of suppressing mail votes,
reports are surfacing suggesting he isn't.
According to one report,
the day after making that statement,
USPS instructed all maintenance managers to not reconnect
or reinstall perfectly working sorting machines
they had disconnected.
No time like the present to dabble in voter suppression.
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