The House Oversight Committee on Wednesday subpoenaed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, alleging he is withholding documents from Congress.
Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) issued the subpoena, the committee announced on social media, for “docs he is withholding from Congress on widespread #postalservice delays.”
A copy of the document orders DeJoy to appear before the committee on Sept. 16 at noon to produce the documents.
A U.S. Postal Service (USPS) spokesperson said they were surprised by the subpoena.
“We remain surprised and confused by Chairwoman Maloney’s insistence on issuing a subpoena to the Postal Service in the midst of ongoing dialogue with her staff on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform to produce information in an orderly fashion,” the spokesperson said in an email to The Epoch Times.
“We fully intend to comply with our obligations under the law.”
Maloney said she wanted documents by Aug. 26 and said she would issue a subpoena if no documents were produced.
DeJoy “has not produced a single additional document since the House and Senate hearings were held despite multiple conversations between Committee staff and Mr. DeJoy’s office over the past week,” the memo stated.
DeJoy is working to implement operational changes to the struggling service that he took over earlier this year. Democrats claim the changes endangered the November election running smoothly and said there are anomalies in the process used to select the former shipping company head as postmaster general.
DeJoy, a donor to President Donald Trump, was selected by the USPS’s Board of Governors.
He came out later against the idea of subpoenaing DeJoy, urging the Democrats on the committee to put up a subpoena for a vote.
DeJoy told lawmakers that inaccuracies about what he’s done include the misinformation that he directed the removal of blue collection boxes or the removal of mail processing equipment.
“Second, I did not direct the cutback on hours at any of our post offices. And finally, I did not direct the elimination or any cutback in overtime. I did, however, suspend these practices, to remove any misperceptions about our commitment to delivering the nation’s election mail. Any further assertions by the media or elected officials is furthering a false narrative to the American people,” he said in the appearance at the U.S. Capitol.
“This recovery took place while still adhering to our existing transportation schedules. In other words, we are improving service performance while more consistently running our trucks on time,” he wrote.
In another development this week, the service announced DeJoy plans to participate in a followup meeting with the National Association of Secretaries of State Election Committee on Sept. 17. DeJoy participated in a conference call with the association on Aug. 26.
During that call, the postmaster general said the Postal Service’s number one priority between now and election day is delivering mail-in ballots.
