GOP Senator to DeJoy: I will ‘kill’ your plan to reform the USPS.

A Republican senator told the head of the U.S. Postal Service on Thursday that he will do everything in his power to stop the agency’s leader from enacting one of his most important reforms, creating a crucial rift between Congress and the USPS.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy faced bipartisan opposition from members of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, with several exchanges becoming problematic. DeJoy vehemently defended his efforts, saying senators who stood in his way would bring about the end of the Postal Service.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., became angry with DeJoy as he talked about his plan to slow delivery of some mail, which is expected to have a disproportionate impact on rural areas.

“I hate this plan and will do anything to stop it,” Hawley said.

He vowed to “go to the mat” on the issue and work with all members of the committee to destroy DeJoy’s plan, promising to “go down with the ship” if necessary. The senator raised his voice and said he was no longer interested in being nice to DeJoy, was growing tired of his initiatives and had been “waiting and waiting and waiting for improved performance.”

“You won’t go down with the ship,” DeJoy responded. “If you succeed, the Postal Service will collapse.”

After the hearing, Hawley offered no specific plans to block DeJoy’s reforms, saying he hoped he could build pressure to get the postmaster general to “change his mind.”

“It appears there is bipartisan opposition to the plan,” Hawley said. “I’ve hardly heard anyone support it.”

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., chairman of the committee, said he would pursue the review of the DeJoy changes with the Postal Regulatory Commission, which is scheduled to occur in January. The findings are nonbinding and Peters said he would demand answers if the Postal Service ignores the commission’s recommendations.

DeJoy said during the hearing that he would carefully review the PRC’s assessment and update his plans accordingly, although he noted that “there is an overwhelming trend to move forward” and he expects to do so. The postmaster general frequently clashed with his regulators, accusing them of standing in the way of necessary changes to keep the Postal Service afloat.

Peters made it clear during and after the hearing that he, too, is not happy with DeJoy’s current course.

“It’s a process we’re going through, but we’ll see how it plays out,” Peters said. “But there is no doubt that there are serious concerns. The way it has been implemented in various locations to date has often resulted in loss of service while increasing costs, which is clearly something we do not want to see.”

Several other lawmakers, including Sens. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H. and Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., expressed dissatisfaction with DeJoy’s plans, which focus on consolidating processing plants and “regional transportation optimization,” a plan that would require mail to remain in post offices overnight instead of every evening for the Transport to be picked up at a processing center. USPS paused these efforts ahead of the election and annual holiday season, but has promised to resume them early next year.

Lawmakers also noted that postal management recently announced lower targets for 2025. For example, USPS now says it expects to deliver regular cards and letters intended for two-day delivery on time only 87% of the time in fiscal year 2025, compared to its goal of 93% in fiscal year 2024. At Post Office , which is expected to be delivered within three to five days, USPS now hopes to deliver 80% on-time, compared to 90% in fiscal year 2024. The Postal Service also recently announced its intention given that some mail items can be delivered more slowly.

“You lowered your goals for next year so you can achieve your goals,” Ossoff said.

DeJoy responded that he was simply trying to propose realistic goals and standards. Asked by Ossoff why only 75% of mail in Georgia is currently being delivered on time despite promises this spring that USPS “will be where we need to be” within 60 days, DeJoy said the current level of performance will remain as it is for the foreseeable future.

The postmaster general sought to reassure senators that he and his staff were prepared to make adjustments to ensure performance improvements. After the Atlanta region tested DeJoy’s plan to consolidate processing into larger, regional centers, on-time performance fell to just 36%. This led to his 60-day improvement promise in April, which Ossoff said he had failed to keep after eight months.

“We have people looking closely at performance on all of these steps, and we have response teams ready to step in and make the necessary corrections,” DeJoy said.

Ossoff made it clear that he thought DeJoy wasn’t doing enough, and when the postmaster general said his attacks had become increasingly personal, the senator responded that he reflected the concerns of his constituents.

“You’re not meeting your financial goals,” Ossoff said. “You lost money when you said you were making money. Supplies in Georgia have been abysmal this year. They didn’t recover as promised. You have to do better for my voters in Georgia.”

Responding to concerns raised by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the committee’s top Republican, about the Postal Service’s hiring of new employees despite ongoing financial losses, DeJoy said lawmakers should trust him Maintains course.

“Right now I know what I’m doing in terms of transportation, consolidating the organization, trying to move the organization forward to reduce the hours we have, reduce the transportation costs we have and grow the business, what .” “We have,” DeJoy said, “and we’re going to keep going down this path until someone gets me out of here.”