In the News

by Jennifer Scholtes

Not all policy riders in Congress’ government funding bills are the “poison pill” mandates that snag bipartisan negotiations. This year, lawmakers in both parties are rooting for a new add-on thanks to one driving force: Mutual animosity toward Louis DeJoy.

Aghast at the work of the Trump-allied postmaster general, lawmakers from both parties want unfettered access to U.S. postal facilities, complaining their visits are routinely blocked as they fight DeJoy on issues like closing local mail-sorting centers, price hikes and delivery delays. In the runup to Election Day, that tension has risen as they protest the far-flung journey of many mail-in ballots traveling out-of-state and back again.

“He’s so cocky,” Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio) told us about DeJoy, a major fundraiser for Donald Trump before his ascent to the Postal Service role on the former president’s watch.

After Joyce took over the appropriations panel that funds USPS this year, he and other lawmakers met privately with DeJoy. “Talk about bipartisanship. Everybody was hating on that guy by the time we were through,” the Ohio Republican said before lawmakers departed for recess.

The mandate to allow lawmakers and congressional aides to visit postal facilities is now tucked in among all the dollar signs in the annual spending bill Joyce handles, thanks to an amendment Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) offered over the summer. Whether that language makes it into law could be decided over the next two months, if Congress manages to clear final spending bills ahead of the new Dec. 20 government shutdown deadline.

Wasserman Schultz, a longtime appropriator who has fought and won several battles for lawmaker access, predicts her amendment has a good shot at getting accepted in final negotiations.

“If there’s anything unifying for the United States Congress, it is that the Postal Service is a maddeningly impenetrable force field,” the Florida Democrat told us.

House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) agrees: “Only the post office has brought us together in righteous outrage.” Cole also said he thinks the USPS directive has strong odds of becoming law whenever Congress wraps up funding bills for the current fiscal year.

Lawmakers in favor of the mandate say time is of the essence.

Upon the urging of those in Congress, DeJoy agreed earlier this year to pause his “Delivering for America” plan to consolidate centers that process mail. But lawmakers say they’ve heard equipment is still being moved out anyway, and the effort is supposed to start back up as soon as January.

While Senate appropriators didn’t include the same access mandate in their own version of the funding bill this year, they’re just as miffed.

The Senate’s top Republican appropriator, Maine’s Susan Collins, said she hears reports from throughout her state that residents are no longer receiving daily mail delivery. DeJoy’s consolidation plan “simply makes no sense,” she argued.

In Oregon, mail from central towns like Eugene is trucked over the Cascade Mountains to Portland and back. “This is really devastating,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). “And I hope we can find a way to create a lot more pressure to save the postal system from DeJoy. There is no joy in DeJoy-ville at the moment.”

Lawmakers complain that USPS often stops them from visiting postal facilities even after following rules for requesting an appointment weeks in advance. Four years ago, after Wasserman Schultz said she was formally and repeatedly denied access to a mail sorting facility near Miami, she brought a media entourage and tried to enter in the middle of the night, only to be blocked by armed officers. And others describe similar experiences.

“It is an absolute hostile, adversarial thing that you’re met with here,” Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) said before voting in favor of Wasserman Schultz’s amendment this year. “And if we want to come look at what their operation is, that it is our duty to be able to do that without basically begging.”

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/inside-congress/2024/10/23/the-postal-service-fight-that-could-play-out-in-a-spending-deal-00185158