Are there limits to Presidential influence over the Postmaster-General?
A 1971 reform altered Presidential authority over the Postmaster-General, until then a Cabinet position. The President now names nine board members to seven-year terms overseeing the U.S. Postal Service, subject to Senate confirmation and rules about partisan balance and professional qualifications. The board was vacant from 2016 until 2018, and still has three unfilled seats.
The board, in turn, hires the Postmaster-General. In June, Louis DeJoy, a logistics executive and donor to the current President, assumed the role. The service has long faced challenges balancing service obligations with financial pressures. DeJoy's first management moves have drawn attention from Congress and the media amid worries about expected volumes of voting-related mail during the pandemic. The board "will evaluate my performance in a nonpartisan fashion,” DeJoy says.
