Tag: Trump Postal Service

New Mail Wrinkle: USPS Sending Out Inaccurate Mail Ballot Info, Warns State Official

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy refused to let state officials review notices before they went out, says Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold.

The U.S. Postal Service is sending out inaccurate mail ballot information to residents of several states, which could further snarl a system already facing overwhelming demand amid the COVID-19 crisis, Colorado’s secretary of state said Friday.

The USPS is sending postcard notices to addresses and post office boxes of registered voters, urging them to request mail-in ballots early. But several states already have a system in place that automatically sends ballots to all registered voters, noted Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold in a series of tweets. For residents in those states, the “information is not just confusing, it’s WRONG,” she said.

She said that Postmaster General Louis DeJoy ignored requests from secretaries of state to review any notices to ensure their accuracy before they went out. Continue reading.

Postal Service to Tap Republican Lobbyist to Quell Mounting Scrutiny

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Facing multiple investigations and calls for his ouster, the postmaster general turned to a G.O.P. lobbyist viewed as adept at reaching out to Democrats.

WASHINGTON — Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, moving to defend himself and top postal officials against suggestions that they are trying to help President Trump win re-election by sabotaging mail-in voting, told colleagues on Wednesday that he planned to hire a veteran Republican lobbyist to work with Congress.

Facing calls for his ouster by Democrats and a flurry of investigations on Capitol Hill, Mr. DeJoy informed postal officials that he had selected Peter Pastre, a former Republican congressional aide and insurance lobbyist, to act as a liaison for the agency with Congress and state and local governments, according to people familiar with the discussions.

The move came as the Postal Service was facing mounting political and operational crises. Mr. Trump has raised concerns about the security of voting by mail, and the independent quasi-governmental agency has struggled to overcome a delivery slowdown and a dire financial forecast — all while Democrats accuse Mr. DeJoy and the agency’s Republican-majority governing board of doing the president’s bidding. Continue reading.

Louis DeJoy’s rise as GOP fundraiser was powered by contributions from company workers who were later reimbursed, former employees say

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Louis DeJoy’s prolific campaign fundraising, which helped position him as a top Republican power broker in North Carolina and ultimately as head of the U.S. Postal Service, was bolstered for more than a decade by a practice that left many employees feeling pressured to make political contributions to GOP candidates — money DeJoy later reimbursed through bonuses, former employees say.

Five people who worked for DeJoy’s former business, New Breed Logistics, say they were urged by DeJoy’s aides or by the chief executive himself to write checks and attend fundraisers at his 15,000-square-foot gated mansion beside a Greensboro, N.C., country club. There, events for Republicans running for the White House and Congress routinely fetched $100,000 or more apiece.

Two other employees familiar with New Breed’s financial and payroll systems said DeJoy would instruct that bonus payments to staffers be boosted to help defray the cost of their contributions, an arrangement that would be unlawful. Continue reading.

Postmaster General testifies that ballots will be prioritized for delivery

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Postmaster General Louis DeJoy on Friday said that ensuring mail-in ballots are delivered during elections this year is his ” No. 1 priority.”

The statement from the postmaster general comes as DeJoy has faced criticism of recent decisions made around reforming the Postal Service.

“As we head in the election season, I want to assure this committee and the American public that the Postal Service is fully capable and committed to delivering the nation’s election mail securely and on time,” DeJoy testified during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on the Postal Service. Continue reading.

Postal Service overhauls leadership as Democrats press for investigation of mail delays

Washington Post logoLawmakers want the inspector general to examine Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s cost-cutting measures and investments

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy unveiled a sweeping overhaul of the nation’s mail service, displacing the two top executives overseeing day-to-day operations, according to a reorganization memo released Friday. The shake-up came as congressional Democrats called for an investigation of DeJoy and the cost-cutting measures that have slowed mail delivery and ensnared ballots in recent primary elections.

Twenty-three postal executives were reassigned or displaced, the new organizational chart shows. Analysts say the structure centralizes power around DeJoy, a former logistics executive and major ally of President Trump, and de-emphasizes decades of institutional postal knowledge. All told, 33 staffers included in the old postal hierarchy either kept their jobs or were reassigned in the restructuring, with five more staffers joining the leadership from other roles.

The reshuffling threatens to heighten tensions between postal officials and lawmakers, who are troubled by delivery delays — the Postal Service banned employees from working overtime and making extra trips to deliver mail — and wary of the Trump administration’s influence on the Postal Service as the coronavirus pandemic rages and November’s election draws near. Continue reading.