How Louis DeJoy could 'destroy the postal service'

US Postal Service (USPS) employees are sounding the alarm over postmaster general Louis DeJoy's 10-year plan to gut the agency, saying it will put people out of work and delay mail service for millions of Americans.

According to the Guardian, DeJoy — whom then-President Donald Trump appointed to head the USPS in 2020 — is in the midst of enacting a 10-year plan to consolidate mail sorting facilities dubbed "Delivering for America," which he claims will reduce costs. As of December 2023, there are currently 30 mail processing facilities that are being considered for consolidation, which the Guardian estimates could cost 25 jobs per consolidation. DeJoy is ultimately aiming to consolidate approximately 400 over the course of the strategic plan.

"It will eliminate jobs, good jobs," said Pennsylvania Postal Workers Union president Mike Stephenson. "It’s one more process in the 10-year plan that DeJoy put in when Trump appointed him to destroy the postal service."

While Democrats have repeatedly called for DeJoy's ouster as postmaster general, removing him isn't so simple. As Slate reported in 2021, DeJoy serves not at the pleasure of the president, but the USPS' nine-member board of governors. There can't be more than five members of the board who belong to the same political party, and USPS governors can only be removed "for cause," which Slate described as "malfeasance or extreme neglect of duty."

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Following the US Senate's confirmation of two Biden nominees to the USPS board of governors in May, five of the nine board members are Democratic appointees. However, DeJoy remains postmaster general despite the board being able to remove him without having to justify its decision. In the meantime, DeJoy's consolidation plan stands to postpone mail delivery and even require postal workers to relocate long distances. One of the facilities being reviewed for consolidation is in LeHigh Valley, Pennsylvania, where mail sorting has been proposed to shift to Harrisburg, which is 90 miles away from the current facility. Stephenson cited a prior USPS consolidation from Lancaster to Harrisburg that caused significant mail delays.

"We went from if you were mailing a postcard or birthday card to your nextdoor neighbor, instead of it being there the next day when we were still processing, it was there five days more or later and Harrisburg was overwhelmed at that time," Stephenson told the Guardian.

Pennsylvania Postal Workers Union vice president Kevin Gallagher cast doubt on DeJoy's claims that consolidation would boost efficiency, saying the plan was "probably adding a day or two days minimum to mail coming back."

"We don’t see how it’s going to have any benefit whatsoever and it’s going to further delay mail and cause problems for customers and businesses," Gallagher said.

Click here to read the Guardian's full report.