Tom Williams/CNP/Zuma
About five hours into Louis DeJoy’s congressional testimony Monday, Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) lobbed the postmaster general a softball.
“What is the cost of a first-class postage stamp?” she asked.
“Fifty-five cents,” DeJoy said.
Then things got tricky. “What about to mail a postcard?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” DeJoy said.
Porter took the line of questioning one step further, asking DeJoy the cost of mailing a greeting card in a square envelope. DeJoy, grinning, said, “I’ll submit that I know very little about a postage stamp.”
DeJoy, a Republican Party megadonor, has served as the chief executive officer of the United States Postal Service for 70 days after a career in the private sector. His predecessor, Megan Brennan, worked for the USPS for about 28 years before she was appointed postmaster general, having started her career as a mail carrier in 1986. Her predecessor, Patrick R. Donahoe, worked for the Postal Service for 35 years.
Porter further revealed that DeJoy did not know how many people had voted by mail in the last presidential election. “I’m concerned about your understanding of this agency,” she said, “and I’m particularly concerned about it because you started taking very decisive action when you became postmaster general. You started directing the unplugging and destroying of machines, changing of employee procedures, and locking of collection boxes.”
"I'm glad you know the price of a stamp, but I'm concerned about your understanding of this agency. And I'm particularly concerned about it because you started taking very decisive action when you became Postmaster General."@RepKatiePorter breaks it down. pic.twitter.com/U6e8k88BzL
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) August 24, 2020
Katie Porter asks DeJoy how much it costs to mail a postcard. DeJoy says he doesn't know. HE IS POSTMASTER GENERAL
— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) August 24, 2020
In response to Porter’s questioning, DeJoy insisted that he was not responsible for the major operational changes Porter mentioned—changes that have apparently led to major mail delays. “If you did not order these actions to be taken, please tell the committee the name of who did,” Porter said.
DeJoy’s response? “I do not know.”
When Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) asked DeJoy if he actually read the ordered changes that were to take effect, his answer was… less than convincing. So Porter pressed him. "Could you please tell me who did order these changes, if you as Postmaster General did not?"
Watch 👇 pic.twitter.com/gnYasOgSLd
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) August 24, 2020
