Dead chicks, newly dismantled mail sorting machines fuel distrust in DeJoy's USPS overhaul freeze

Sorting machines dismantled in western Michigan
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/WOOD-TV)

New Postmaster General Louis DeJoy will get to explain the controversial changes he has made at the U.S. Postal Service before the Senate on Friday and the House on Saturday, but so far his promise Tuesday to suspend the changes is being met with skepticism. For one thing, his suspension is temporary, and it evidently does not involve replacing decommissioned mail sorting machines or blue postal drop boxes, or restoring overtime pay so the diminished postal workforce can deliver the mail in a timely fashion during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Wednesday, for example, WOOD-TV 8 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, reported that three mail sorting machines had been dismantled in the central post office on Tuesday and Wednesday, though work taking apart the third machine was halted — but not reversed — after DeJoy's order came through.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.