Few Americans may be interested, and fewer may be observing closely, but those who are will soon see how an autocrat gets to do what he wants.
To comply with statute, and allay Congressional critics – who won’t do anything anyway – the Postal Service is going through the process of seeking an advisory opinion from the Postal Regulatory Commission about another round of service reductions and service standard changes.
About 72% of post offices will lose afternoon collections, but Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has his engineers and lawyers arguing that the changes should be supported because – they claim – it will make the USPS more “efficient” and eliminate billions in costs. The service reduction, he’s observed, is a “price that has to be paid” in order to reach his goal of making the agency financially “self-sustaining.”
The PRC process allows parties to intervene, conduct discovery, ask questions, and submit a brief or statement of position. After hearing from the USPS and other participants, the PRC will deliberate and issue its advisory opinion. After that, as it’s already signaled, the USPS still will do what it wants – it’s already making moves to do so, though it can’t “officially” implement its changes until January.
Simply put, under the current circumstances and legal framework, there is no effective impediment to DeJoy doing exactly as he pleases; as the Borg say, “resistance is futile.”
He’s neutralized the governors of the USPS – his presumed bosses; since DeJoy was hired in 2021, they’ve seldom shown anything but submissive deference to whatever he wants to do. If his behavior in their closed meetings is the same as his conduct elsewhere, he likely browbeats them with his aggressive assertions and confident assurances into backing his actions under his 10-Year Plan – like higher prices and reduced service – as inarguably correct and essential.
Meanwhile, as far as DeJoy is concerned, the PRC, the Postal Service’s nominal regulator, is an irrelevant nuisance, making him go through hoops for no good reason. Though few would agree with his dismissive assessment, many might still note that the PRC hasn’t been a particularly effective counterbalance to the PMG’s arbitrary actions. It has a long history of cautiously avoiding any assertion of authority, preferring to stay well inside its sandbox, never employing the few tools it has to enforce whatever it can require of the USPS.
Beyond that, as is exemplified by the current advisory opinion case, the commission simply lacks legal authority to enforce its conclusions about the wisdom or semi-annual price increases, service standard changes, or anything else.
Many observers have opined that the current statutes defining the powers of the Postal Service, its governors, and the PRC were written under the assumption that postal management would be less autocratic than what it’s become, and that a truly empowered regulator wasn’t necessary. DeJoy has proven the error of that idealistic concept.
Of course, there’s Congress, 535 elected officials mostly uninformed about the USPS and not very interested in changing that – until the voters back home start complaining. In recent months, because constituents are complaining, the politicians have been more animated, holding hearings where they can grill DeJoy on camera, often criticizing his pricing and service policies; several have even filed bills. For his part, DeJoy brushes it all aside contemptuously, confident – likely with good reason – that few in Congress have the interest, attention span, or political clout to push through any measure that, for example, would slow his service cuts.
So the dismal conclusion is that most who would alter DeJoy’s course can’t, and the few who can won’t. Postal customers, whether retail or commercial, have no leverage to influence him; his power to run the Postal Service as he sees fit is essentially unchecked … resistance is futile.
Of course, DeJoy won’t be PMG forever. At some point, he may be let go, or simply declare victory and leave. Regardless, while some may look forward to his departure, the true worry is what kind of Postal Service he’ll leave behind. As he and his Plan continue to fail forward, what will be left might be in worse shape than it was when he arrived.
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