Irving Park’s most famous Republican fundraiser – Postmaster General Louis DeJoy – came under intense criticism this week from Republican Congressman Rich McCormick from Georgia in a Tuesday, Dec. 10 heated exchange during a congressional oversight hearing – where the lawmaker harshly and directly blamed DeJoy’s leadership for the worsening performance of the US Postal Service.
The confrontation, which aired on C-SPAN, centered around the ongoing delays in mail delivery that have plagued the Postal Service under DeJoy’s tenure.
Congressman McCormick began the discussion by asking DeJoy to explain why service was so slow.
McCormick said the mail service has deteriorated immensely since DeJoy began heading up the agency, and the congressman questioned whether the Postmaster General had the ability to lead the agency effectively.
DeJoy, who was unwavering in the face of the very harsh attack, defended his actions as Postmaster General, and stated that the delays in mail service weren’t a result of his leadership. Instead, he said, they stemmed from long-standing systemic issues that predated his appointment to the job in 2020.
DeJoy argued that efforts to address these challenges were necessary but would take more time, despite mounting criticism.
Before becoming the Postmaster General, DeJoy was CEO of High Point-based New Breed Logistics from 1983 to 2014. That company was a United States Postal Service contractor for more than a quarter of a century since one of its services included shipping logistics support to postal processing facilities.
DeJoy has been a major donor and fundraiser for many high-profile Republican Party politicians over the years. It has not been unusual to see Secret Service or other security forces surrounding his Irving Park home when key Republican leaders – including Donald Trump – show up at his mansion for a fundraiser.
DeJoy helped fund President George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection bid and he co-chaired Rudy Giuliani’s fundraising campaign four years later. He also donated to Jeb Bush’s 2016 presidential campaign, and, four years later, donated $1.2 million to Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential bid.
In April 2017, after Trump was elected president, DeJoy was named one of three deputy finance chairmen of the Republican National Committee.
In May of 2020, the USPS Board of Governors – all selected by Trump – named DeJoy Postmaster General.
DeJoy came under fire by Democrats that year when they accused him of manipulating the mail system to favor Trump’s candidacy.
However, since that time, there has been some very positive press on DeJoy and the changes he’s made at the US Postal Service, such as a relatively flattering article in Time Magazine a couple of years ago.
However, McCormick, at the congressional oversight hearing, is clearly not satisfied with any of DeJoy’s explanations as to how the current problems have come about. Instead, McCormick accused DeJoy of evading accountability for the worsening state of the Postal Service – especially as it relates to Georgia.
The congressman pointed out that DeJoy had been in charge of the Postal Service for several years now, and that, under his leadership, delays had only gotten worse.
The conversation grew very tense as McCormick pressed DeJoy on his cost-cutting measures and questioned whether they were the reason for the slowdowns that have caused significant problems for Americans who depend on the timely delivery of essential items through the mail – including their prescriptions.
DeJoy vehemently denied that his cost-cutting initiatives were the cause of the delays. He said those measures were necessary to ensure the financial stability of the Postal Service.
“You can’t spend money you don’t have,” DeJoy shot back at the hearing, attempting to justify the need for cuts that have reduced some operational expenses, including staffing and transportation.
Despite DeJoy’s steadfast defensive posture, McCormick maintained that these cuts had disastrous consequences for service quality. He cited the struggles of Americans who depend on the Postal Service for critical deliveries. McCormick argued that the fundamental issue was a lack of accountability within the agency, which he claimed was allowing service to deteriorate.
DeJoy asserted that the Postal Service’s difficulties were the result of years of mismanagement by Congress, however, that did little to assuage the lawmaker’s obvious frustration.
At one point in the discussion, DeJoy literally covered his ears with both hands, and an exasperated McCormick said he hoped the cameras caught that because it was such a fine example of how DeJoy reacts to criticism.
McCormick, a retired military officer, invoked his military experience to criticize DeJoy’s leadership style.
“In the military, if I have a skipper and things are going bad, even if they’re a good officer, we relieve them,” McCormick said.
He further likened DeJoy’s situation to that of a CEO whose company repeatedly fails, suggesting that leaders like that are typically fired in the private sector.
“The Postal Service’s positive business model has fallen apart under your watch,” McCormick declared.
McCormick continued: “You’ve been graded by the American people, and they’re losing faith in this service.”
DeJoy, however, remained unmoved and countered that Congress was largely responsible for the Postal Service’s financial challenges.
The now famous Greensboro resident argued that, while reforms were necessary to address the long-term viability of the agency, the responsibility for the agency’s troubles wasn’t his alone.
“I’m trying to fix them,” DeJoy said of the problems.
As the heated exchange continued, McCormick expressed disbelief that, despite advancements in technology and automation, the US Postal Service still fails to deliver basic services such as on-time mail delivery.
“With all the AI and computer systems, you’ve still failed to deliver basic services,” McCormick said. “That’s on you.”
The tension between DeJoy and Congress reflects a larger debate over the future of the Postal Service – with critics questioning whether the current leadership is capable of effectively addressing the agency’s persistent problems.
For now, DeJoy’s critics continue to call for change at the top – while the Postmaster General insists that the systemic reforms and long-term planning efforts he’s implementing are necessary for the Postal Service’s survival and recovery.
I am a member of the loyal opposition but I must say the Post Office seems to be running better under DeJoy. He appears to have the background and the backbone for the job. Yes there are mistakes but they are corrected and overall the quality of service is steady.
I was thrilled with Sen. Josh Hawley’s grilling of DeJoy. The USPS IS a mess both inside and out. He asked for answers many citizens have (check out NextDoor posts to see details of misrouted mail, late mail, no mail, mail after 6pm).
There’s no call for it to take more than a day to send mail from Brown Summit to McLeansville, but it’s usually a 3-day event. We’ve consistently had payments mailed go missing costing us late fees and service charges to stop payment (and oh thrill, the same happens if you use BillPay and the bank mails a cheque because they don’t have the ability with some accounts to do a digital transfer).
The cost of mailing gifts for birthdays and Christmas is so stupidly expensive, sometimes costing more than the item in the package, that fun things like joke gifts are a thing of the past. Our family now donates to charitable organizations instead of exchanging gifts from miles away (which is an economic loss for retailers, and has taken the expectation of something coming in the mail besides junk to toss in the recycling).
DeJoy’s responses to Hawley were juvenile and meaningless. I was especially interested in how someone running the USPS figured that ending afternoon pickup of mail in “rural areas” would cut costs yet not lead to delays in delivery. How could he not understand that if no mail was collected then the mail WAS being delayed (something I learned when the chick at the bank decided to not check the PO Box for a week at a time and again I ended up with late fees, canceled check fees, blah), all while he’s raising the cost of mailing letters, packages, and whatever stuff you think is coming from Amazon by UPS but arrives by USPS.
DeJoy has not done a good job of running the postal service and should be replaced with someone who knows how to manage a delivery business. Maybe someone from the Pony Express is still around?
Mail price increases are huge and slower service
FIRE DEJOY NOW. Decoy blaming things 15 yes ago is a pathetic liar
In my opinion US Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has done a remarkable job transforming the efficiency of the US Postal Service and significantly improving their image! The one issue of concern I have encountered with the US Postal is the lack of ability to express your gratitude and appreciation on their website for our hard working and very competent Postal Service Employees!
What world do you live in? My mail is days late, medication goes out of state to process and comes back in state to be delivered, 1 out of every 4 packages gets shipped to the wrong state and has to be rerouted back to start the process all over again, etc. The USPS has gotten way worse. What used to take 2-3 days now takes 5-7 days. He also closed the distribution center that serves over half of my state. Dejoy is a incompetent man child who has multiple conflicts of interest. He needs to go.
Service quality is a real issue. I see it weekly. Postal rates have zoomed up during the last 2-3 years, yet postal workers and carriers got only a 1.3% raise coming up. This deal has not been approved by the Union, so look for further delays and/or a strike.
Some of their employees make less than $20/hr. With all the responsibility, $20/hr cannot support one person. So many employees are among the functional poor, qualifying for govt assistance. Goodbye the good and secure job. The job now is borne by lower-skilled workers, willing to work for peanuts.
Mr. DeJoy thinks that job-cutting for improved service is gonna work. Ask Stellantis how that approach is working for them. This service is not meant to be for profit, our govt is not in business. It is not expected to make a profit, instead they run multi-trillion dollar deficits every year, at the expense of taxpayers & consumers alike.
The USPS is in decline, it is not functional by any definition. The USPS cannot compete with email, fax, or private enterprise.
Name something our govt does well. NASA can’t even run a space program. Musk can.
At least it doesn’t cost GBPounds 2.80 (about $3.60) just to send a postcard across the Atlantic. That’s what the Royal Mail charges.
The USPS only charges $1.65 to mail Christmas cards internationally.
Correct me if I’m wrong but as I understand it CanadaPost is actually on strike as we speak. Looking for resumption of service around mid January.
Oh, I didn’t know that. Not surprised. Canada has more unionism in its economy, like Britain.
“Great” Britain is finished, by the way. The Left long ago became institutionalized, and the people pacified and passive. Sad.
The decline of the UK is no less than catastrophic. Two World Wars bankrupted and wearied the country. With QEII, Winne, and Margaret gone; the Country as we knew it is now flat gone. Canada is nearly gone, & ANZAC is pretty much on their own.
The U.S. of A., the only Republic standing for freedom and self-reliance, is the only hope of the free world remaining. And “hope” is not a strategy. How long can we hold out before the WEF finally sucks it all away? How much longer before big money takes all of our freedoms and opportunities away?
You’re right, Miller. The precipitous decline of my dear old country grieves me greatly.
Maggie demonstrated that it was not at all inevitable, but the lessons we learned from her Premiership were forgotten very quickly.
In the end it was the faux Right that did us in. The Left will do what the Left will do, but 14 years of “Conservative” rule just ended, giving us the highest tax burden since WW II, millions of illegal immigrants, police state regulation of speech, and an unprecedented mountain of public debt.
I half expected to be arrested at Heathrow Airport last month, because of my big mouth and forthright opinions. It doesn’t take much to be accused of “hate speech” by non-whites, muslims or sexual deviants, and the British police are all too eager to arrest those who promulgate Wrongthink.
It’s so pitiful to see a once great country, a beacon of freedom and faith, now reduced to a squalid secular cesspit of nihilism and authoritarianism. Just so sad.
Thank God I left.
God Bless America.
Need to privatized the post office. Another wasteful government agency
Affirmative, without Mr. DeJoy.
I’m old enough to remember when this guy was called a “threat to democracy”, a “fascist”, a “nazi”, and on and on…
Even some good White liberals over on West Cornwallis (the “nice” part, east of Battleground) got in on the delusional outrage by planting yard signs stating some drivel like “SAVE THE USPS”.
Oh yeah? You’re old enough to remember? Good for you. You’re old. Also,nobody cares.
FWIW, the post office seems to be operating much better than it was during the depths of the pandemic. And for packages shipped to me, it actually seems more reliable than UPS or FedEx. Online tracking is always up to date, and packages don’t mysterious sit at a sorting facility for days.
Not in my experience. Try “To be, rather than to seem.”
I have nothing good to say about the USPS. It’s not unusual for me to receive my water bill every other month. I recently received a jury summons which I was unable to fulfill but could not be excused since I lacked the 10 business day deadline. And what sort of business model are they practicing? When business is slow, the usual practice is to run a sale, not raise prices! The Forever Stamp is a stupid idea since it doesn’t reflect the true cost of mailing.
I subscribed to the WSJ several years ago. After Mr. DuhJoy arrived, the papers came a day late, two days, five days, never. After some digging, I learned that the papers arrived at the sorting facility near GSO on time for delivery, but were sorted only at their convenience – literally, sometimes never. Economy in action. A day old newspaper is not news, it’s olds. I get the paper on line.
my mail service is primo downtown .
What is the use of having kiosks for mail collection when post office workers are in such a hurry as to not make sure the kiosk doors are closed and locked when they leave? I have found this true multiple times this year and have had to close the doors but was unable to secure them! Imagine all the information an unscrupulous person could remove with those doors wide open? Also, I had important payments in the outgoing slot ignored for weeks at a time–as a result, I now take all outgoing mail to the Post Office and mail it INSIDE, as the blue boxes are vulnerable to break-ins, as happened in Lexington.
The USPS could be fixed save for one word. UNION!
I know more than one person who interned or worked for the USPS. Union rules prohibit Supervisors helping, they prohibit eliminating positions and embracing technology, they insist we stay one century behind. RIDICULOUS!
Regarding wages, current federal employees are allowed to take positions within the USPS at the same wage they were making in their previous positions, even if that rate is much higher than the average workers wage. ABSURD
Lastly, have you seen their benefits and retirement package? INSANE!
Don’t shoot the messenger until you can fix the problem, not the blame.
I think DeJoy has done a great job and prevented even worse problems.
Home mail deliver should be a maximum of thre days a week and two days would be better. There was a time when garbage pick up was five days a week and people get by with twice and probably could do once.
Six days a week is totally uncalled for. I am told the original government direction was six days a week and this can not be changed which is rediculous.
i agree. i could get by with one garbage & recycle dump/month easily.
They need to question him on why the usps employees are getting by with stealing mail! Gift cards, money, checks and sven gifts themselves are stolen. I walked in the Julian PO one day to file a complaint about money missing from a card and saw the employees reading a letter belonging to a Julian resident!! They had opened it and was reading it. They were laughing and making disparaging remarks about the person receiving the letter. They did not notice me and another guy standing there. Then they took a stick of glue and applied it to the envelope and sealed it back. This is a felony offense! Me and the man quietly walked out and spoke in the parking lot. The next day we both called the postmaster and filed complaints. Nothing was ever done! Nothing will ever be done! They should not allow employees to just take whatever they want from the mail. They should not be allowed to read our mail. If I hadn’t seen it first hand, I never would have believed it. The usps has become a disgrace!
You see who runs the post offices. My sister lives in Julian, sometimes, she would not receive my letters and cards.
My sister does not live well. Sometimes, I would mail her some cash. After a while, these letters (especially cards) were not being delivered. This Fall, I mailed a bday card and an XMAS card, neither were delivered. I had learned my lesson before, there was no cash included. I have also read the people have learned that postal employees at zip 27283 P.O. that postal workers there were in the habit of opening people’s mail, reading and searching letters, some to be re-sealed, and some destroyed. Complaints have been made, but nothing has happened. All my experience is fact, the rest of this info is second-hand.
We all have our personal observations about the postal service, most experience a decline in service. I dread shippers who use Usps for packages. The tracking shows there are holes in the system all along the way, where items can disappear for days. It seems the technology is working, so the answer must lie with individuals who won’t or can’t do their jobs. Why?