Cori Bush blasts lack of diversity on USPS board

Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) questioned the lack of diversity on the United States Postal Service’s board of governors, asking Postmaster General Louis DeJoy whether he considered it “a problem.”

The first-term representative’s remarks came amid a hearing held by the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday, during which Board of Governors Chair Ron Bloom and DeJoy testified about the delivery service and the financial crises it faces amid the pandemic. 

Bloom told Bush it had been at least six years since the board had the full 11 members required by statue, The Washington Post reported. The current composition of the board, Bloom said, is six white men.

Addressing DeJoy, Bush noted that 35 percent of postal workers are people of color, asking him “Do you see it as a problem that the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service looks like a millionaire white boys’ club?”

The current board includes a coal lobbyist and three investment bankers.

Rep. @CoriBush (D-MO) to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy:

“Do you see it as a problem that the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service looks like a millionaire white boys club?” pic.twitter.com/Qt1z6PZhKQ

— The Recount (@therecount) February 24, 2021

DeJoy responded that, “The Postal Service would love to have a diverse board that reflects its population,” adding that their appointment was the purview of the White House and the Senate.

“The quicker we get some new board members from the administration, the less we can talk about this and move on to the plan and the real, real problems that we need to fix here,” he added, according to the Post.

DeJoy has become a target of Democrats since his appointment by then-President Trump in the summer of 2020, with critics noting his history as a Republican donor. His appointment followed Trump’s claims that mail-in voting, which was largely used in the 2020 election due to the pandemic, would lead to widespread voter fraud. 

During his first few months in office, DeJoy made sweeping operational and personnel changes that prompted outrage from Democrats who argued that the postmaster was trying to influence the 2020 election. At the time, DeJoy said he had made the changes to cut costs as the agency was ailing for money due to the pandemic. 

Following outcry about his changes before the election, DeJoy walked them back last August. 

DeJoy can only be removed by the board, prompting Democrats to pressure President Biden to fill its vacancies.