President Donald Trump's hand-picked Postmaster General Louis DeJoy launched a major overhaul of the U.S. postal mail service. Among the changes, the two top executives overseeing day-to-day operations have been let go and replaced with DeJoy's new picks, according to a reorganization memo released Friday.
"The shake-up came as congressional Democrats called for an investigation of DeJoy and the cost-cutting measures that have slowed mail delivery and ensnared ballots in recent primary elections," reports the Washington Post:
Twenty-three postal executives were reassigned or displaced, the new organizational chart shows. Analysts say the structure centralizes power around DeJoy, a former logistics executive and major ally of President Trump, and de-emphasizes decades of institutional postal knowledge. All told, 33 staffers included in the old postal hierarchy either kept their jobs or were reassigned in the restructuring, with five more staffers joining the leadership from other roles.
The reshuffling threatens to heighten tensions between postal officials and lawmakers, who are troubled by delivery delays — the Postal Service banned employees from working overtime and making extra trips to deliver mail — and wary of the Trump administration's influence on the Postal Service as the coronavirus pandemic rages and November's election draws near.
It also adds another layer to DeJoy's disputes with Democratic leaders, who have pushed him to rescind the cost-cutting directives that have caused days-long backlogs and steady the Postal Service in the run-up to the election. DeJoy clashed with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), in a meeting on the issue earlier this week.
More at the Washington Post:
Postal Service overhauls leadership as Democrats press for investigation of mail delays
