Employees Give Lukewarm Response over Appointment of New US Postmaster General

The USPS governing board chose Louise DeJoy to be its next Postmaster General. He is an outspoken Trump supporter. He also has decades worth of valuable experience from his time spent working in the logistics industry.

DeJoy will be the 75th US Postmaster General with his term beginning on June 15 and will succeed Megan Brennan. He previously worked alongside the US Postal Service as New Breed Logistics’ CEO, which is a firm that offers transportation and supply chain support services. He is known for his significant donations to the Republican Party and Trump’s reelection campaign. Unlike his predecessors in the last 2 decades, DeJoy is an outsider appointment.

His appointment comes as the agency goes through a turbulent period. The last decade has seen profits and mail volume decline further with each passing year. The COVID-19 outbreak only served to exacerbate its financial woes. The governing board of the USPS recently approved a resolution to request $75B in additional funds from Congress to fill its budget deficit. Over 2000 postal workers have been infected with coronavirus – 46 workers have passed away due to the infection.

This appointment was made merely days after David Williams, a governor of the USPS, stepped down from his office. His resignation was largely due to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s excessive interference in the board’s decisions, as per reliable sources who are close to Williams. Mnuchin’s decisions, especially his involvement in a $10B loan that was approved by Congress, was not received well by Williams. Although USPS stated that DeJoy’s appointment had been made unanimously, a spokesperson refused to clarify when the board had cast its vote and whether it was held before Williams’ resignation

All 5 governors of the USPS, including Williams, were appointed during the Trump presidency. He was widely considered to be an invaluable board member as he had formerly served as the inspector general for several agencies, including the USPS.

The organization has requested more autonomy when it comes to setting its prices, though some caps are to remain the same. Several stakeholders warned that increasing prices dramatically could discourage mailers from utilizing the USPS’s services, which would deal a massive financial blow to the organization. Ecommerce behemoths like Amazon could wind up establishing their own delivery services if prices were to be increased, warned experts.

The USPS highlighted DeJoy’s previous experience with the organization and stated that the governing board had chosen him after conducting a nationwide search and comprehensive review of over 200 candidates. This list was further brought down to 12 candidates who were then interviewed by the governing board.

Experts were confident that the USPS would choose an outsider as the Postmaster General. PostCom’s Plunkett stated that he was excited to work with DeJoy and support him in his plans to revitalize the USPS. However, he warned that the current postal management was lacking in institutional knowledge since the board members and postmaster general were relatively new, which was cause for worry. The Benefit Coordinators THE Federal Short Term Disability Insurance!