The House has approved a bipartisan bill that would lift onerous budget requirements that have helped push the Postal Service deeply into debt.
The measure would require the service to continue delivering mail six days per week. And it would have to set up an online site that people could search by zip code to see how quickly letters and packages are delivered. The election-year bill comes at a time of widespread complaints about slower mail service.
The Senate is working on similar legislation. The Postal Service is supposed to be self-financing but has suffered 14 straight years of losses
The latest bipartisan legislation has been long overdue and passed in a 342-92 vote, even though controversy that has embroiled the head of the Postal Service could have possibly lost Republican support for the bill. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and support for him by Republicans could have seen the bill die if his job was threatened in the legislation, asPolitico reported.
Democratic House Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York, who is a lawmaker leading the legislation, said, “This bill is an agreement to fix some of the serious problems that have been looming over the Post Office for years and threatening its financial stability.”
Last year DeJoy faced a federal investigation over campaign contributions made by his former employees, a spokesperson for DeJoy confirmed, as NPR reported.
As Mark Corallo, a spokesperson said, the Justice Department was investigating "contributions made by employees who worked for him [DeJoy] when he was in the private sector."
Then, later in 2021 documents revealed more than a dozen conflicts of interest DeJoy faced in his role "because of his and his family's investments in a number of companies closely tied to the U.S. Postal Service," NBC reported.
