Letter to Ron A. Bloom, USPS Board of Governors Chairman - Launch Proceedings to Fire Postmaster General DeJoy

Letter

Dear Chairman Bloom,

As the Chairman of the United States Postal Service (USPS) Board of Governors, it is your duty to uphold the mission enshrined in thePostal Service Reorganization Act of 1970: "[T]to bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and businesscorrespondence of the people." Following a field hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform in Chicago, at which USPS employees testified to the recent deterioration of this decades-old institution, I am compelled to express my solemn belief that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy must be immediately removed through a majority vote by the Board of Governors. It is no longer in the best interestsof the USPS or its customers -- the American people -- for Mr. DeJoy to continue in his role.

As highlighted during the committee hearing, an October 2020 investigation by the USPS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found that Mr. DeJoy implemented operational changes in the summer of 2020 without first studying their potential impacts. The resulting delivery delays -- including an over 10-percentage point drop in on-time delivery for Fist-Class Single-Piece mail in July 2020 -- were "directly corresponding to implementation of the operational changes and initiatives."1 The OIG found that "[t]he Postal Service only met service performance targets for three of 33 products in Fiscal Year 2020."2 Simply put, Mr. DeJoy recklessly imposed untested, nationwide changes on the American people with disastrous results.

More recently, this past October 1st, the USPS lengthened the standard delivery time for approximately 30% of first-class mail and packages as part of Mr. DeJoy's 10-year "Delivering for America" plan. Furthermore, as explained by Postal Regulatory Commissioner Ashley Poling, "the plan also fails to provide sufficient evidence to justify exceptionally limited cost savings projections."4 Much longer delivery times in exchange for meager cost savings for the organization should be an outrage to each American who depends on the USPS for necessary services.

The USPS delivers 48% of the world's mail.5 When our country was founded, the USPS under Postmaster General Benjamin Franklin tied the 13 original colonies together. Throughout its history, the USPS has been an essential public service, representing the very best of American excellence and patriotism. But, I fear that reputation is in grave jeopardy.

Your current term with the USPS Board of Governors expires this December. As you approach the possible end of your tenure, I urge you to do the right thing by swiftly moving the USPS Board of Governors toward a vote to fire Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

I would like a response to this letter by October 31, 2021, and I look forward to hearing from you.

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