Mnuchin Paved Way for Postal Service Shake-Up

[Rogue Valley]

Mnuchin Paved Way for Postal Service Shake-Up | The New York Times

"If it looks like a cover-up, sounds like a cover-up, and smells like a cover-up, it's a cover-up."

8/22/20
WASHINGTON — In early February, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin invited two Republican members of the Postal Service’s board of governors to his office to update him on a matter in which he had taken a particular interest — the search for a new postmaster general. Not only was the Trump administration, through Mr. Mnuchin, involving itself in the process for selecting the next postmaster general, but the two Democratic governors who were then serving on the board were not invited to the Treasury meeting. Since the meeting did not include a quorum of board members, it was not subject to sunshine laws that apply to official board meetings and there is no formal Postal Service record or minutes of what was discussed. Nearly six months later, that meeting, along with other interactions between Mr. Mnuchin and the postal board, has taken on heightened significance as the Trump administration confronts allegations it sought to politicize the Postal Service and hinder its ability to handle a surge in mail-in ballots in November’s election. In interviews, documents and congressional testimony, Mr. Mnuchin emerges as a key player in selecting the board members who hired the Trump megadonor now leading the Postal Service and in pushing the agenda that he has pursued.

A few weeks after the February meeting with Mr. Mnuchin, one of the attendees, Robert M. Duncan, the chairman of the board of governors, who was appointed by Mr. Trump in 2017, threw a new name for postmaster general into the mix: Louis DeJoy. Mr. DeJoy, a longtime logistics executive, was known for his hard-charging leadership style and his ability to convert disorganization into efficiency, as well his generous donations to the Republican Party, including to Mr. Trump. Three months after the meeting in Mr. Mnuchin’s office, the board of governors announced Mr. DeJoy’s selection as the nation’s 75th postmaster general. Within weeks, he began carrying out changes, including cuts to overtime and limiting mail delivery trips. He curtailed postal hours and mandated that carriers must adhere to a rigid schedule. A July memo from the Postal Service warned that the changes might temporarily result in “mail left behind or mail on the workroom floor or docks.” Hundreds of mail-sorting machines have been removed, and the day-to-day changes have caused confusion and delays among drivers, carriers and other workers. Mr. DeJoy and Mr. Duncan are scheduled to testify on Monday before the Democratic-controlled House Oversight and Reform Committee, whose members have signaled interest in Mr. DeJoy’s hiring, the changes he enacted and Mr. Mnuchin’s involvement in the Postal Service.

It was Trump Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and the Republican members of the Post Office Board of Governors (below) that installed Trump donor as the new Postmaster General. DeJoy (63) was the head of New Breed Logistics with 7,000 employees before selling it to XPO Logistics in 2014 for 615 million. At least a dozen discrimination lawsuits were filed against the New Breed company. DeJoy is adamantly anti-union and managed his companies like Chinese sweatshops. Since accepting the job as Postmaster General, DeJoy has refused to sell a good portion of his stocks in XPO Logistics. This appears to be an ethics violation because XPO does contract work with the USPS.

Related: White House accused of hiding Mnuchin role in recruiting Postmaster General DeJoy