Washington, D.C. – Today, the Congressional Progressive Caucus held a virtual ad hoc hearing to investigate the Trump Administration’s efforts to sabotage U.S. Postal Service (USPS) operations. The Progressive Caucus heard testimony from David Williams, the former USPS Inspector General and former Vice Chair of the USPS Board of Governors, Mark Dimondstein, the President of the American Postal Workers Union, Rosemary Enobakhare, the Campaign Director at Health Care Voter, and Tammy Patrick, Senior Advisor to the Elections Program at Democracy Fund Voice.
In the hearing, David Williams revealed new, detailed information regarding the appointment of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and the unprecedented role that Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin has played in USPS operations.
Significantly, David Williams noted that Secretary Mnuchin sought intrusive control over core USPS operations that the USPS itself deemed to be illegal. Mnuchin also sought to impose a pricing practice that “would be ruinous for the Postal Service” and significantly impair its ability to compete in the package delivery market. He also alleged that DeJoy’s name was put forward by Republican board member John M. Barger, and that the hiring process was rigged for DeJoy, noting that he was coached during the interview process and that no background check was conducted before his hiring. Williams also noted that at the time of his departure this spring, the U.S. Postal Service had full confidence in their ability to facilitate vote by mail in this election. Now, just months later, USPS has informed 46 states and the District of Columbia that ballots cast through the mail may not arrive in time to be counted.
“If this is the beginning of what the president promised, it is the end of the postal service,” David Williams warned members of the Progressive Caucus during his testimony.
“The explosive allegations we heard today from David Williams, the former Vice Chair of the Board of Governors at the Postal Service, merit serious investigation by Congress,” said CPC Hearing Co-Chairs Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Mark Pocan (WI-02) and Jamie Raskin (MD-08). “It appears that the Trump Administration, led by Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin and Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, has directed a corrupt, long-running sabotage of the U.S. Postal Service and threatened the reliable delivery of the mail and packages. As we heard from our witnesses today, the right-wing weaponization of the Postal Service has far-reaching implications for public health and is an attack on our very democracy. Congress must act swiftly to investigate these allegations and ensure that our postal system remains an affordable, reliable public good free from the political attacks that want to destroy it.”
Text of the witnesses’ opening remarks is available here.
