WASHINGTON — A former Postal Service member of the Board of Governors said he objected to the hiring of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, according to two lawmakers.
David Williams, who was a member of the nine-person board, told Democratic Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois and Katie Porter of California that he quit, in part, because of the hiring of DeJoy. He issued his resignation days before DeJoy was named to the position in May.
“I had expressed concerns after each of the interviews with Mr. Louis DeJoy,” Williams, a Democratic appointee, told the lawmakers, adding that he suggested a background check of DeJoy.
Williams is set to brief a group of progressive House Democrats Thursday afternoon about his time on the board and what he saw as its increased politicization in recent months.
Because of the admission, Krishnamoorthi and Porter sent a letter to a Republican board member, John Barger, asking about the selection of DeJoy, including whether he discussed the naming of him to be postmaster general with any Republican official or Treasury Sec. Steve Mnuchin.
“Given your extensive record of making financial contributions to Republican Party officials, several of which have been made while you were a sitting member of the USPS Board of Governors, we request the following information about any possible coordination you may have had with political entities when recommending Mr. Louis DeJoy to the selection committee,” the lawmakers wrote to Barger.
The letter also claims that DeJoy was never recommended by the consulting firm Russell Reynolds Associates, which was hired to recruit candidates for the postmaster general position. Instead, he was introduced to Barger by the selection committee, a process the lawmakers call “irregular.”
The nine-member board selects the postmaster general.
On Wednesday, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer sent a separate letter to Board of Governors Chairman Robert Duncan also requesting information about the selection of DeJoy. He asked that Russell Reynolds Associates be released from a non-disclosure agreement to discuss the hiring process of DeJoy. Schumer also asked if Mnuchin or President Donald Trump had a role in his selection.
DeJoy’s tenure has coincided with a slowdown in mail service and widespread operational problems, including the suspension of overtime for postal workers and removal of sorting machines at postal centers around the country. He said this week that the changes were implemented as cost-saving measures before he became postmaster general and that he would suspend some of the changes until after the election.
The USPS board of governors was designed to operate much like a private company’s board of trustees. The board is supposed to consist of nine members, but only six of the slots are currently filled and all of them by Trump appointees — two Democrats and four Republicans. Two of the three unfilled spots are Democratic positions.
Democrats are stepping up their scrutiny of the board itself, with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., sending a letter reminding members that they have the authority to reverse decisions by the postmaster general.
DeJoy is scheduled to testify before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Friday and before the House Oversight Committee hearing Monday.
