Hice: Democrats Want to Use Postal Service for Progressive Agenda

Press ReleasePublished: Nov 16, 2022

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WASHINGTON - Government Operations Subcommittee Ranking Member Jody Hice (R-Ga.) opened today's hearing on "The Holiday Rush: Is the Postal Service Ready?" by emphasizing the importance of reforming the Postal Service to ensure it continues to deliver for the American people. He noted that while Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is working to implement a reform plan, Democrats continue to attack Mr. DeJoy for his attempts to improve efficiency. He also blasted Democrats' efforts to use the Postal Service as a guinea pig for a progressive agenda. Subcommittee Ranking Member Hice concluded by calling on the subcommittee to review the Postal Service's performance after the holiday rush to determine the effectiveness of its reforms.

Below are Subcommittee Ranking Member Hice's remarks as prepared:

Thank you, Chairman Connolly.

I think it is important not to lose sight of a very important fact:

Despite the passage of the Postal Service Reform Act, the Postal Service is still in bad financial condition.

And we have asked Louis DeJoy to perform something of a miracle.

The Postal Service may be a beloved and vital American institution, but the PSRA did not change the fact it is based on an outdated business model based on delivering mail.

And Mr. DeJoy has come up with a plan to try to save this Postal Service - but implementing that plan is going to involve change.

It has to - doing the same old thing is not going to work.

And I appreciate that change makes people nervous.

I appreciate the message that stakeholders want more information about the Postal Service's plans, and I would encourage Postal Service leadership to be as forthcoming as they can be with respect to what they have in mind.

It is also going to involve mistakes.

My colleagues on the other side of the aisle were quick to condemn Mr. DeJoy for his initial attempts to improve efficiency.

These moves - curtailing unapproved overtime; making sure blue collection boxes were located in the right places; and making sure the trucks ran on time - were portrayed as attempts to steal the 2020 election.

Yet the Postal Service delivered in that election - literally and figuratively.

If this election ever wraps up…we will learn how well the Postal Service did this time around.

I am given to understand Mr. DeJoy acknowledges his attempt to get the trucks running on time did not work, and that he does not want to repeat that mistake.

That's what a leader does.

They try.

They act.

They learn from mistakes.

But if Democrats are going to hold Mr. DeJoy to a "zero fault" standard, then they should apply the same standard to the Biden Administration.

Let's just say there would be a lot of vacancies.

But the most important thing is that it is going to take action.

The conventional wisdom - and all too frequent truth - in any kind of federal service is to go along to get along.

To not rock the boat.

But the boat, in this case, is sinking, and I applaud Mr. DeJoy for trying to keep it afloat.

There are no other good options.

Throughout its history, this country has struggled to make the Postal Service a viable institution.

If the current model fails, I suspect my Democrat friends won't be lining up to privatize the Postal Service.

And returning the Postal Service to an appropriated agency has already failed spectacularly. That's why we have a Postal Service and not a Postal Department.

We have to let the Postal Service focus its core mission of delivering mail and packages.

But Democrats want to use the Postal Service as a guinea pig for a progressive agenda.

Why would anyone think postal banking would be a success?

And the insistence that the Postal Service become the vehicle charger for the nation is simply misguided.

With respect to peak season, it sounds from the inspector general that the Postal Service has a good plan in place.

That does not guarantee success, of course.

But it seems that the Postal Service has learned from past mistakes, is proactively working to correct them.

That's what we can fairly ask from the Postal Service.

Once peak season is over, the Committee can take a look at how well these plans worked.

I will be sure to tune in, from wherever I may be.