“DeJoy himself confirmed that there have been significant service slowdowns. It makes no sense at all for him to say USPS sorting machine ‘are not needed.’ Put them back.”

***

Update:

In testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Friday, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told lawmakers that he has “no intention” of returning or replacing mail sorting machines that have been removed from post offices across the nation.

Questioned by Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) on the machine removals , DeJoy—a Trump megadonor with no prior experience working for the U.S. Postal Service—said, “They’re not needed, sir.”

Watch:

DeJoy says he has "no intention" of bringing back any mail sorting machines that were removed since he became postmaster general https://t.co/uPUUHHEj5w pic.twitter.com/fr9XQTonGG

— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 21, 2020

“Postmaster General DeJoy himself confirmed that there have been significant service slowdowns,” tweeted Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) in response to DeJoy’s remarks. “It makes no sense at all for him to say USPS sorting machine ‘are not needed.’ Put them back.”

According to the American Postal Workers Union, the USPS under DeJoy’s leadership was moving to decommission more than 670 sorting machines around the country before the postmaster general vowed earlier this week to suspend his operational changes until after the November election.

Iowa Postal Workers Union President Kimberly Karol—a 30-year Postal Service veteran—told NPR last week that the removal of mail sorting machines “hinders our ability to process mail in the way that we had in the past.”