In congressional testimony on Thursday, David Williams — former U.S. Postal Service (USPS) Inspector General and former Vice Chair of the USPS Board of Governors — said that U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has long sought to use the USPS for political purposes in ways that hurt both customers and employees.
Additionally, on Friday, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said that the USPS will not replace the mail-sorting machines that have recently been deactivated even though the USPS is expecting an unprecedented wave of mail-in ballots in the November presidential elections as voters avoid in-person polling stations to reduce possible COVID-19 exposure.
At the very least the USPS announced on Friday that it had launched a new website to help Americans navigate mail-in voting for the upcoming elections. Congressional Democrats have also pledged to block recent USPS service changes before the election, though it’s unsure what all changes have already occurred.
Williams told the Congressional Progressive Caucus on Thursday that he resigned “when it became clear to me that the administration was politicizing the Postal Service with the treasury secretary as the lead figure for the White House in that effort,” according to CBS News
Mnuchin’s position is tasked with giving the USPS the line of credit it needs to operate. Williams said Mnuchin required all of the newly installed USPS board and regulatory commission members hand-picked by Trump to come into Mnuchin’s office to “kiss the ring” before their confirmation.
Williams also said he illegally demanded information about USPS’ labor agreements, postage pricing, volume discounts, contracts and contacts with Amazon, UPS and FedEx. Mnuchin ignored USPS officials’ warnings that his requests were illegal.
“Clearly the president was determined that the Postal Service should inflict harm on Amazon delivery by sharply raising parcel shipping prices on everyone by 400% or more,” Williams told Congress. “On the way to attacking a political foe (Trump has long railed against Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos), I was concerned that American citizens would feel the shock of the price increase and that American supply chains would lose much of their value, harming businesses and our competitive position globally.”
The USPS has been in financial trouble for a while because of a 2006 law requiring it to pre-fund 75 years worth of retirement benefits — a $110 billion cost. Like many U.S. businesses, the epidemic significantly harmed the USPS too. Many workers fell ill or began quarantining, causing USPS leaders to spend millions on personal protective equipment, plexiglass and social distancing equipment for offices while its reduced workforce began working overtime at increased pay to help continue services.
On Friday, DeJoy said that the USPS mail-sorting machines which have recently been deactivated won’t be returned for use before the November presidential elections. The machines can sort 36,000 pieces of mail per hour. The deactivation of the machines has contributed to a mail delivery slowdown along with other so-called “cost-cutting measures” including limiting employees overtime and their ability to make extra trips.