- The nation’s public postal service, the USPS, announced on Friday an urgent translation to its organization expelling the agency’s two top executives.
- The new structure follows earlier changes the Louis DeJoy-led agency made that Democratic lawmakers say USPS’s ability to jeopardize post-in-ballot score.
- Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said the changes could allow the agency to reduce costs and capture more revenue. The agency lost $ 2.2 billion in the second quarter.
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Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Friday announced a massive reorganization of the U.S. Postal Service’s leadership structure, amid calls from Democrats to investigate recent changes, resulting in delayed mail deliveries. An increase in post-in-ballots is expected in the 2020 presidential election.
According to a new organization chart released Friday, USPS has been reassigned or relocated 23 postal workers including the two top officials overseeing day-to-day operations, The Washington Post reported. The agency also implements a management that hires freezers and will ask for volunteers for early retirement.
“This organizational change will establish operational efficiencies by providing clarity and economies of scale that will allow us to reduce our cost base and capture new revenue,” Louis DeJoy, who was appointed in May, said in a public statement. “It is crucial that we do what is within our control to help us successfully fulfill our mission to serve the American people.”
The announcement comes in the wake of the $ 2.2 billion loss that USPS reported for the period April to June and a handful of austerity measures that DeJoy made earlier this year.
A USPS employee in Santa Monica, California Mario Tama / Getty Images
Tensions flared with lawmakers ahead of the election
Earlier this summer, DeJoy banned overtime and tweaked delivery policies, amid a handful of austerity measures that Democratic lawmakers felt the agency’s ability to track field codes of post-in-votes in the November election felt.
“We believe these changes, made in the midst of a once-in-a-century pandemic, now threaten the timely delivery of mail – including medicines for seniors, payroll for workers, and absentee ballots for voters,” said Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Speaker Charles Schumer wrote in a letter sent to DeJoy on Thursday. “We believe these changes need to be reversed,” she wrote.
It’s not exactly clear how the organizational changes will affect the postal service, and its role in the election, but analysts told The Post that it centers power around DeJoy, a “big ally” of President Trump.
Some postal experts also say that DeJoy’s recent efforts are turning an essential government service into a for-profit business, according to The Post.
“He always refers to the USPS as ‘our business.’ “But he’s been appointed postmaster general. You have no business,” Philip Rubio, a history professor at North Carolina A&T State University and a former postal worker, told The Post.
Louis DeJoy, USPS Postmaster General United Press
A closer look at the restructuring
In all, 23 drivers were re-assigned as expelled, The Hill reported, while five hierarchical workers joined from other roles at the bureau.
“These organizational changes do not initiate any reduction in force, nor do they directly affect USPS personnel,” USPS said in a statement announcing the changes.
Among the many changes, David Williams, the former chief operating officer and EPP, will fill a new role, chief logistics and processing operations officer. Other executives were ousted from leadership roles including Kevin McAdams, the former VP of supply and retail.
The agency’s finances remain tight. USPS is projected to track money through as soon as next March, reports The Post. However, the agency recently secured a $ 10 billion loan in an earlier coronavirus relief package.
