Louis DeJoy, Postmaster General, is facing backlash for his plan to increase stamp and postcard prices as part his 10-year overhaul of mail operations. This strategy has been criticized by critics. warn This will further harm the Postal Service.
The USPS published its final week-end report late last week notified The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), has announced its planned price increases that will take effect in January. The new pricing proposal must be approved by PRC. A stamp will cost 4.2% more than 63 cents, while a postcard will cost 9% more.
The Postal Service cited the need to “offset the rise in inflation” in justifying the price hikes, but Executives of the Government’s Eric Katz pointed out Tuesday that “DeJoy has previously suggested the increases would continue to allow the Postal Service to reach a financial break-even point.”
Why a federal agency would need to reach “break-even” is a question that observers have asked for months as DeJoy — a former logistics executive and Trump megadonor—has rushed ahead with pricing changes, job cuts, and postal facility closuresIn a purported attempt to make the public USPS “profitable.”
DeJoy advised consumers and the mail industry to expect USPS prices to increase. continue rising “at an uncomfortable rate” for the foreseeable future as the postmaster general vows to remain in his position despite sustained calls for his removal. The new price increase was approved by the Postal Service Board of Governors.
Kevin Yoder, a former GOP congressman and executive director of Keep US Posted — an alliance of consumer and business groups — warned in a statement Tuesday that “if DeJoy’s frequent postage hikes are allowed to take place, Americans could soon be paying well over $1 to mail a single letter.”
“The January 2023 rate increases will impact every American, as well as industries that depend on the mail to serve the public,” said Yoder. “In fact, with July’s increase this year, newspapers faced a 9% postage increase, and nonprofits’ mail costs increased more than 6%. We can’t let the Postal Service sabotage itself by driving industries out of business and driving consumers away from using the mail.”
“It’s a relief to see Congress step in with H.R. 8781 to ensure that mail service remains accessible to all,” Yoder added.
H.R. 8781 is Rep. Gerry Connolly’s (D-Va.) recently introduced Ensuring Accurate postal Rates Act, a bill which would require a reassessment the authority DeJoy used to increase prices significantly during his tenure scandal-plagued Tenure as postmaster general
“We must ensure that rate hikes do not return the Postal Service to a service of the privileged,” Connolly said During a hearing last month.
DeJoy’s latest pricing announcement came a day after a federal judge ruled that the postmaster general’s cost-cutting measures — including limits to overtime pay and a ban on late delivery trips — were to blame for alarming mail slowdowns ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
“There were already enough reasons to fire Postmaster General DeJoy, but this court ruling that DeJoy’s actions in 2020 affected mail service is yet another reason,” Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, wrote As a result,
“DeJoy’s conflicts of interest and attacks on a basic government function mean he has to go,” Bookbinder added.
