WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats on Friday called for an investigation of newly installed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy over new cost-cutting measures at the agency that postal workers say have delayed mail delivery and ensnared ballots in recent primary elections.
A letter signed by Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts; House Oversight Committee chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat; and seven other Democrats urged Postal Service Inspector General Tammy Whitcomb to examine how DeJoy, a former logistics executive and major Republican donor, came to implement policies that prohibit postal workers from taking overtime or making extra trips to deliver mail on time, and how delays specifically affect election mail.
‘‘Given the ongoing concerns about the adverse impacts of Trump Administration policies on the quality and efficiency of the Postal Service, we ask that you conduct an audit of all operational changes put in place by Mr. DeJoy and other Trump Administration officials in 2020,’’ the letter states.
It also asks Whitcomb to review the financial holdings of DeJoy and his wife, Aldona Wos, the ambassador-nominee to Canada. The couple’s holdings include between $30.1 million and $75.3 million in assets in USPS competitors or contractors, according to a financial disclosure Wos filed with the Office of Government Ethics when she was nominated for the ambassadorship. DeJoy’s disclosures are not public. Postal Service mail processing contractor XPO Logistics — which acquired DeJoy’s company New Breed Logistics in 2014 — represents the vast majority of those holdings. Their combined stake in competitors UPS and trucking company J.B. Hunt is roughly $265,000.
DeJoy had 30 days from taking office to divest himself of assets that present a conflict of interest.
Agapi Doulaveris, a spokesperson for the Office of Inspector General, said the department had received the letter, but could not comment on details of ongoing work.
‘‘I would absolutely hope the inspector general would look into why the mail is being slowed, because that’s outrageous,’’ said Philip Rubio, a professor of history at North Carolina A&T State University and a former postal worker.
Washington Post