There are certain behaviors we should not tolerate from government officials, elected, appointed, or hired. We shouldn’t tolerate any kind of criminal activity or graft. And we shouldn’t tolerate petulant displays of childish pique.
That last bit is precisely what we saw during a House Oversight Committee hearing on Tuesday when Postmaster General Louis DeJoy threw a tantrum and covered his ears while being questioned by a Republican committee member.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy covered his ears during a congressional hearing as Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.) repeatedly pressed him on postal service oversight.
McCormick during a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing Tuesday told DeJoy that he does not get an “A grade” when it comes to his leadership of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).
“You were graded by the United States people and they don’t use your service anymore,” McCormick said.
“That is not true,” Dejoy said as McCormick continued over him. “Our office is growing.”
“You are responsible for the fall of the postal service and the lack of accountability,” McCormick said as DeJoy interjected with, “This Congress is responsible for it falling apart. I am trying to fix the postal service.”
DeJoy told McCormick, “You’re talking to yourself” before covering his ears.
What is this guy, 12 years old? I wouldn’t have put up with this from my kids when they were three. Why should we put up with this from the United States Postmaster?
Here, have a look for yourself:
This is intolerable. Were he a toddler and not just acting like one, this would result in Mr. Bottom taking a swift trip to Spank-Land. If he were in a criminal or civil courtroom, it would not be surprising if he were to end up doing a few days in the country slammer for contempt of court. But this is a grown man in a position of serious responsibility in the United States federal government.
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Back in my corporate days, an act like this would almost certainly result in someone being cashiered on the spot. That is, in all candor, what should happen to Louis DeJoy. Adults don’t act like that, and a person who is highly placed in the federal bureaucracy, who is being interviewed by a congressional committee, really shouldn’t be acting like this. It’s embarrassing. It’s disgraceful. And speaking as one of the taxpayers that pay this man’s salary, as far as I’m concerned, it’s grounds for dismissal.
What’s worse, this man is in charge of a federal service that lost $6.5 billion in fiscal 2023.
The US Postal Service lost $6.5 billion in its just-completed fiscal year, delivering a blow to the service’s hopes of a financial turnaround.
The Postal Service had projected it would break even in the fiscal year that ended September 30, on its way to annual profits this year and going forward. Its results are particularly disappointing because it received a bump in its revenue earlier this year when shippers shifted package volume away from UPS because of the threat of a strike there.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy blamed the loss on inflation raising costs for its operations. It also sent printing prices surging, which significantly reduced the amount of junk mail marketers sent via the mail.
For some time now, I’ve been saying that there is a crisis of competency in the federal government. Now, in the case of Louis DeJoy, we see that there is also a crisis of maturity. President-elect Trump, please find us a new U.S. Postmaster General!
