Ranking Member Hoyer Opening Remarks at FSGG Hearing on the U.S. Postal Service

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Congressman Steny H. Hoyer (MD-05), Ranking Member of the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) Appropriations Subcommittee, delivered opening remarks at the FSGG hearing on the United States Postal Service (USPS). Below is a video and transcript of his remarks:

Click here to watch the full video of his remarks:

"Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for scheduling this hearing with Ms. Hull. Obviously, this is a very important hearing. The Postal Service performs an extraordinary service. In fact, it's one of the first services that our founding fathers established, so that the colonies, and later the United States of America, could be connected in all of its areas. This is a very, very important service that they perform. And obviously, Mr. Chairman, you mentioned the operating deficit that they have. One of the reasons for that, of course, is unlike a private sector company, it delivers to places that are not profitable and are costly and give a service, but do not 'pay their way,' if you will.

"So, I appreciate this hearing so that Ms. Hull, the inspector general - and I thank you for coming by my office - can bring us up to date on what you do and what your recommendations are with respect to the Postal Service going forward. Mr. Chairman, I am a strong supporter of the public Postal Service. [I] do not believe it ought to be privatized, because if it is privatized, it will obviously curtail, particularly in rural areas in our country, services that they now have, but which are not cost effective.

"Lastly, Mr. Chairman, let me say - and I'll submit a statement for the record, I know you'd like to hear it all, but I'll submit it for the record - but I would want to say, I appreciate my short discussion, both with staff and with you, that we are seeking to get the testimony of a significant number of the agencies over which we have jurisdiction. In particular, of course, I am very concerned about DOGE, OMB, and OPM, who over the last 90 days have had an extraordinary impact on our country. My belief is it's going to prove to be a very negative impact on our country, but it's certainly an impact which was not contemplated by the Congress of the United States, nor provided for in our budgets and agencies and departments and offices are being eliminated without congressional authority, and employees are being fired, RIF'd, displaced, whatever you want to refer to it, inconsistently with the law. So that, I think it is absolutely essential that Mr. Musk, Ms. Gleason, Mr. Vought, and others who have been involved in this process very deeply, testify before this committee that has jurisdiction over their actions and their budgets although DOGE is using the budget of a previously established agency, but within our jurisdiction and including the White House, which is within our jurisdiction.

"And I'm pleased to hear that we're going to pursue that, because I believe that, frankly, 'government by executive order' was not contemplated by our founding fathers, is not consistent with the Constitution. Every president has used executive orders extensively. This president, however, seems to be governing by executive order, without regard to the authority of the Congress of the United States. So, I'm pleased that we're going to be hearing from the principals who are directly involved in this. And I thank the committee for pursuing that objective. Thank you very much."