Postmaster spars with Georgia congressman during contentious hearing

(The Center Square) – U.S. Postmaster Louis DeJoy sparred with members of the House Oversight Committee from both sides of the aisle as they questioned the delivery service in their area and the agency’s financial woes.

Georgia Republican Reps. Andrew Clyde and Rick McCormick, who are not members of the committee but were allowed to ask questions, said mail delivery in their state was still dismal. At one point, the on-time delivery rate was in the 40% range. DeJoy said in a Senate hearing last week it was at 75% in Georgia.

Georgia is not the only state reporting problems, members told DeJoy during the hearing. Committee members said constituents are calling their offices with stories about delayed bill payments that led to penalties or late checks that kept some from buying essential items like medicine.

The postal service is also “hemorrhaging red ink,” said Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky. The loss is expected to be $10 billion this year and $6.5 billion next year.

DeJoy, who was named postmaster in May 2020, blamed Congress in an exchange with McCormick, saying the postal service had significant issues before he took the position.

“You are responsible for the fall of the postal service,” McCormick said. “With all the AI, with all the computer systems, you are worse than if I took a horse and picked up the mail and delivered it two miles down the road,” McCormick said.

DeJoy covered his ears as if to indicate he wasn’t listening after telling McCormick at one point he was “talking to himself.”

“I hope you got that on camera,” McCormick said while covering his ears. “This is the response that the postmaster gives Congress when he doesn’t like what he hears.”‘

DeJoy told Clyde that Georgia has had the worst service for many years, but the service standards the agency has are not achievable for the dollars it has to spend.

“In fact, I think they’re kind of ridiculous,” DeJoy said. “My expectation is we will have reliable mail service in the area and we will also have improved retail operations and expanded services in the retail centers that we have throughout the nation. This is a big, bag makeover.”

DeJoy introduced a 10-year restructuring plan in 2021 that included revamping some distribution facilities and realigning the transportation network.

Georgia’s congressional delegation has been critical of the plan after a newly-opened distribution facility in Palmetto had several issues.

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., introduced the Postmaster General Reform Act of 2024 earlier this year, which would require the postmaster to be appointed by the president and approved by Congress. The postmaster is currently appointed by the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors.

Ossoff grilled DeJoy in a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing last week.

“It’s about whether or not seniors in Georgia are receiving prescriptions. It’s the stacks of boxes of mail from courts that never arrived, that went to their destination. It’s the small businesses who are not able to get products to market,” Ossoff told DeJoy during the hearing.