When the postmaster testifies, Democrats need to grill him for answers, not grandstand
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is slated to testify on Friday before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and before the House Oversight Committee on Monday. The House committee is where the fireworks are most likely to fly, since Democrats control that chamber and can actually act on what they find. In welcome news, DeJoy announced this week that he is suspending “cost-cutting” measures before the November election. But we still need urgent answers to stop Trump’s politicized attacks on the post office by exposing illegitimate — and possibly illegal — conduct while also focusing far more public attention on the ongoing scandal.
Yet if history is any guide, some Democratic committee members will be tempted to grandstand rather than grilling DeJoy for valuable information. That would be a colossal mistake and an unforgivable missed opportunity. We don’t need five-minute speeches about how Trump is a bad man. Nor do we need eloquent soliloquies about the virtues of the U.S. Postal Service. What we do need is a clearly coordinated strategy to uncover material facts that can be used to challenge DeJoy’s actions in consequential ways before the November election.
Specifically, it’s crucial that a timeline is established: What rule changes have been instituted at the Postal Service, and how many of them have been adopted during this election year? How does the rate of mailbox and mail-sorting-machine removals compare with, say, that of the past five years? How much slower is the average delivery time of mail compared with previous years? Are urban areas (that tend to vote for Democrats) or states led by Democrats affected more than others? What specific steps are being taken to improve timely delivery of ballots before Election Day? And, crucially, will DeJoy’s pledged “suspension” of activities also involve repairing the damage that he has already done?
Additionally, Democrats should make clear to a watchful public that the circumstances around DeJoy’s appointment warrant more scrutiny. He is the first postmaster general in recent history to have no experience of the post office. Worse, he has multimillion-dollar conflicts of interest that raise serious ethical red flags. He’s also a walking example of buying appointments through political donations. DeJoy is a Trump megadonor — and his wife, Aldona Wos, was appointed ambassador to Estonia in 2004 after making substantial donations to the Republican Party. Democrats should ask DeJoy precisely how much money he and his wife have given or raised for Trump and Republican causes over the years. Millions? Tens of millions? Then they should also get DeJoy talking on the record about his financial conflicts of interests with the Postal Service’s direct competitors or contractors.
Such questioning has two objectives. The first is to explore whether any malfeasance has taken place that could be challenged in the courts before November. The second is to focus public opinion on the issue, cranking up heat on the White House. Trump needs to know that if he is going to try to subvert the election by sabotaging the post office, Americans will be watching.
Speeches and grandstanding accomplish none of those objectives. And without coordinated questioning, public interest will wane because the hearing will be difficult to follow. If Democrats want to fight for a fully free and fair election, this isn’t a hearing to haphazardly prepare for at the last minute.
Thankfully, the House Oversight Committee has two standouts when it comes to exceptional questioning of witnesses: Reps. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). In the past, witnesses have withered under their intense, efficient questioning that aims to extract information, not get a clip on C-SPAN. The Democratic leadership would be wise to enlist Porter and Ocasio-Cortez to coordinate a questioning strategy that ensures that valuable time is not wasted and that core questions are answered by DeJoy.
The U.S. Postal Service processes roughly 500 million pieces of mail per day and 3 billion pieces of mail during the week before Christmas each year. Even if almost every registered voter in the country voted by mail in this election, that would still be fewer than 150 million new pieces of mail in the system.
A country that put a man on the moon five decades ago should be able to manage an added volume of mail that represents, at most, just 5 percent of the Christmas post. In short, the capacity is there, but the political will is not. Next week, Democrats have an opportunity to change Republicans’ political calculations by putting pressure on DeJoy with effective questioning.
Don’t blow it, Democrats.
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