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A congressman from Illinois is leading the charge on Democrats’ push to oust Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi is calling on President Biden to replace USPS Board of Governors Chairman Ron Bloom over his refusal to remove the embattled postal chief.
DeJoy — a Trump-appointee who is currently under federal investigation over allegations of campaign finance violations — has come under fire for operational changes that have slowed first-class mail delivery under his supervision, with multiple Democrats calling for his removal.
In a letter sent to Biden this week, Krishnamoorthi called for Bloom to be replaced on the Board of Governors at the end of his term, arguing he is enabling DeJoy’s “disastrous policies.”
The Illinois Democrat cited Bloom’s defense of Dejoy in a letter responding to his request that a vote be held to remove the mail chief from his position.
“As a member of the USPS Board of Governors, Chairman Bloom was responsible for the selection of Postmaster General DeJoy as Postmaster General and enabled his misguided 10-year ‘Delivering for America’ plan. This policy, which Chairman Bloom claimed, ‘has my fingerprints, lengthened the standard delivery time for approximately 30 percent of first-class mail and packages,” he wrote.
“In Chairman Bloom’s response to my October 20th letter, he noted that the service standard changes were essential to ensure ‘more reliable service.’ Unfortunately, the only manner in which the Postal Service has become more ‘reliable’ is to deliver mail reliably late. Despite Postmaster General DeJoy’s claims, this massive postal slowdown was not even financially justified.”
The USPS did not respond to a request for comment on behalf of Bloom or DeJoy.
Krishnamoorthi, a member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, added that he has ethical concerns about potential conflicts of interest pertaining to both DeJoy and Bloom.
“Between October 2020 and April 2021, Postmaster General DeJoy purchased bonds worth up to $305,000 from Brookfield Asset Management – where Chairman Bloom serves as a senior executive, entwining the two in a potential conflict of interest due to Chairman Bloom’s duty to oversee Postmaster General DeJoy,” he continued.
“At the same time, the Postmaster General faces an FBI investigation over campaign finance violations and questions surrounding his conflicts of interests in his conduct of USPS business with at least 14 companies.”
Krishnamoorthi went on to state the importance of the USPS as “a trusted American institution,” arguing that DeJoy “threatened that legacy.” He noted that 77 public interest groups, including the Save the Post Office Coalition, have also called for their removal.
“We rely on the U.S. Board of Governors to maintain the daily operations of the mail service, but Mr. Bloom has failed to hold Postmaster General DeJoy accountable for policies deeply unpopular with the American public,” Krishnamoorthi told The Post. “We need major changes in order to get the Postal Service back on track, and that starts with the leadership at the Board of Governors.”
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