Postmaster General DeJoy Testifies Before Senate — Refuses to Replace Dismantled Sorting Machines

Louis DeJoy testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where he acknowledges that the USPS has dismantled 671 mail sorting machines under his leadership but expresses no intention of replacing them. Video of the hearing shows DeJoy repeatedly declining to commit to reassembling the machines, stating that removing them was part of a long-term plan to adjust to declining mail volume. However, USPS data shows that 125 machines were removed in 2018 and 186 in 2019 — while 671 were removed in 2020 alone, the vast majority under DeJoy's two months in office. DeJoy also announces on August 18, under intense political and legal pressure, that he will 'suspend' his operational changes until after the November election. But because 95% of the sorting machines had already been removed, the suspension is widely criticized as a hollow gesture. Postal workers in at least two states defy the national order and reassemble their sorting machines on their own initiative. The APWU president, Mark Dimondstein, says the moves reflect the 'conscience of postal workers' who understood the stakes for democracy.