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Wathcing the Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing on USPS/election, and @RonJohnsonWI, who has made it clear that any suggestion that USPS is causing problems is a "false media narrative," is blaming local election officials for any confusion/fear about mail deadlines.
But @GaryPeters, the ranking member and senator from Michigan, used his opening statement to make clear that this is not just a "false media narrative." He highlighted two examples of mail slowdowns and delays causing significant money and medical problems.
Also, in terms of a "false media narrative," it's not just reporters sounding the alarm. For the most part it's postal workers themselves. Here are several in Michigan who told me how alarmed and pissed off about this they are: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/08/post-office-voting-michigan/
Here's the former vice chair of the USPS Board of Governors said *yesterday* that DeJoy and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin were demanding changes that would make "the Postal Service into a political tool." https://prospect.org/politics/top-postal-service-official-details-mnuchin-extortion-effort/
This writeup, from @ddayen, shows how this former executive -- a person in a position to understand -- viewed what's been happening here:
. @GaryPeters presses DeJoy as to whether changes at USPS are causing delays. DeJoy hedges, and Peters produces a chart showing sharply reduced on-time mail delivery stats. Peters says he hasn't rec'd good answers as to where these decisions come from.
DeJoy says USPS has "significant issue with employee availability" due to COVID-19, and that's part of what's happening here. That's what postal workers say too, but they say they offer to allow temporary workers and management hasn't done that in some places.
Peters asks whether mail sorters are coming back. "They're not needed," DeJoy says.
DeJoy says he's never spoken to the president about the postal service, and says he's never discussed his specific plans with Mnuchin. DeJoy chuckles when asked if any of this has been discussed with anyone associated with the Trump campaign.
DeJoy says he was "greatly concerned about all the political noise" about election mail and mail ballots, and told his team to "double" efforts with respect to election mail.
DeJoy says he supports voting by mail & he votes that way, and USPS "will support it." I know we're only on the 3rd questioner, but so far they haven't really tied this to the fact that President Trump says USPS can't handle mail election. Concerns aren't coming out of the blue!
. @SenatorCarper, after a tech issue, jumps on and finally ties this to Trump: "We've got a president who ... doesn't want to see the postal service do well." Also notes that this is a voter suppression issue and that Trump hasn't been shy about the strategy here.
. @SenatorCarper "people seem skeptical, they have a right to be skeptical." Ties this whole problem directly to voter suppression.
. @SenatorCarper asks DeJoy about lost capacity in recent weeks, DeJoy says it's "not material" to anything under discussion now.
. @SenatorCarper notes that DeJoy is a major Trump supporter, financially and politically, and asks him to commit to independence. DeJoy says yes.
. @SenatorLankford starts off with a straw man argument, saying that recent criticism implies that critics thought nothing was wrong with USPS before he got there. That's patently untrue. Union workers, outside experts, etc, have *all* pointed out the longstanding issues.
Nobody has asked DeJoy yet about his concerning financial incentives. See background here: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/12/politics/postal-service-dejoy-conflicts-amazon-trades-xpo-stake/index.html
. @SenatorHassan presses DeJoy about the order to decommission machines, and he says he doesn't understand what's happening in the districts, but is sure "there's some logic." She quickly points out that he's been emphatic that the machines aren't needed.
Shorter DeJoy, so far: All the hype around concerns with USPS makes no sense, he needs to tighten budgets and things are fine, and any concerns are off base.
DeJoy says that Congress needs to act on USPS retirment funding, medical benefits funding, and "unfunded mandates." On that point workers and outside experts largely agree, and there's nothing new about that.
. @SenJackyRosen wants minutes of closed USPS Board of Governors meetings by Sunday, DeJoy flatly says no, that he doesn't have authority and would need to talk to lawyers, so can't do it that fast.
. @SenJackyRosen asks if any data analysis was performed to evaluate how USPS changes would impact seniors. DeJoy waffles. What about veteran impacts: DeJoy says he's only said that "trucks have to leave on time," and "theoretically people should have gotten their mail faster."
The problem with the "just trying to get trucks out on time" thing, according to postal workers, is that in the past the trucks wouldn't leave if all the mail wasn't sorted. Now, the truck leaves regardless, and mail waits till the next day. As that adds up, major delays pile up.
This hearing is moving fast but there's some key moments to keep your eye on. My colleague @AriBerman notes the big one so far: DeJoy says the removed sorting machines are not needed: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/08/dejoy-says-usps-wont-reinstall-more-than-600-removed-mail-sorting-machines/
. @RandPaul starts off his comments to USPS' DeJoy by saying the USPS needs fewer employees and less-frequent delivery. He also asks what DeJoy would do if venture capitalists hired him to run USPS.
. @RandPaul's opening statement on USPS was a bit much even for DeJoy, who says he's "more optimistic" about the USPS than Paul.
. @RandPaul asks whether the pricing to "competitors" for last-mile delivery is appropriate and priced correctly. Remember that DeJoy has financial incentives in this space. DeJoy waffles hard, and says "reasonable business gaps" exist. Again, see here: https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/12/politics/postal-service-dejoy-conflicts-amazon-trades-xpo-stake/index.html
That exchange about whether USPS is making enough money off companies like FedEx and Amazon was odd, and it's unclear what DeJoy thinks about this.
In response to a question from @MittRomney, DeJoy says that "we will scour every plant" to make sure ballots go out. Postal workers in Michigan told me that this *was not* happening like it had in the past. See here: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/08/post-office-voting-michigan/
