But the postmaster general cannot be removed by a president. That power lies with the Postal Service's governing board -- whose six sitting members were all appointed by President Trump as a result of a Republican-controlled Senate blocking a slate of President Barack Obama's nominees. In recent public remarks, DeJoy -- who has donated millions of dollars to Republican causes and whom Trump once called "a friend of mine" -- has repeatedly indicated that he has no intention of stepping down, pledging before the election to see his cost-cutting initiatives through "no matter who is president," and laying out plans for the future of the beleaguered mail agency at a Postal Service board meeting earlier this month.
Many of the Postal Service's board members have also publicly endorsed DeJoy's performance -- an indication that his job is safe for the foreseeable future. John Barger, a member of the board, praised DeJoy in September as a "tremendously gifted" leader who "is doing a tremendous job" as postmaster general. The Biden transition team did not respond to inquiries about DeJoy's future, and a Postal Service spokesperson declined to say whether DeJoy planned to stay on, instead providing a statement that read, "The Postmaster General is not a political appointee, and his term is not affected by a Presidential transition.
Sources familiar with the Biden transition team's planning acknowledged that DeJoy will almost certainly remain as postmaster general -- at least until Biden can appoint new members to the Board of Governors, which could take months or years. The board is currently comprised of six members, all of whom were nominated by Trump and approved by the Republican-controlled Senate. By law, the group must remain bipartisan, and the current slate includes two Democrats and four Republicans -- including Robert Duncan, the board's current chair and a longtime friend of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
The Board of Governors can have up to nine members. However a dispute between McConnell and Sen. Bernie Sanders in and left the board vacant, with a slate of President Obama's nominees left without a confirmation hearing. The Trump administration toyed with the idea of privatizing the USPS, which would allow it to jack up rates and link them to distance, so that inhabitants of rural and remote communities would pay more for their mail.
That would be an unprecedented and insupportable departure from the centuries-old tradition that the U. Mail stands for universal service, binding the nation together as a vast community of equals. Creating a modern role for the Postal Service and placing it back in the panoply of government services where it belongs requires leadership that believes in its mission, not that sees it as a hobbled competitor to FedEx and UPS.
Los Angeles Times columnist Michael Hiltzik writes a daily blog appearing on latimes. Follow him on Twitter at twitter. Why economists got it wrong on U. Kellogg files lawsuit against its striking cereal workers. Ships bound for L. All Sections. About Us. B2B Publishing. Business Visionaries. Hot Property. Times Events. Times Store. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options.
By Michael Hiltzik Business Columnist. Bill Pascrell, D-N. DeJoy was born in Brooklyn and still retains its distinct accent, despite long living in Greensboro, North Carolina.
His firm offered logistical services nationwide, which critics are quick to note sometimes competed with the post office. Those included reducing employee overtime and removing mail-sorting machines from postal facilities around the country. After the changes, mail slowed enough that Democrats worried about an electoral crisis. The Postal Service says it delivered at least million ballots to or from voters — and delivered Such frustrations were new.
While much of the budgetary concerns stem from a law requiring the agency to fully fund costly retiree health benefits for the next 75 years, the post office has also been hurt by an inevitable, internet-fueled decline in mail volume.
0コメント