No, Bernie Sanders Isn't Responsible For Louis DeJoy As Postmaster General

Last Summer on Twitter, I took some time to correct yet another of those well-circulated Clinton cult myths I always find myself skewering in spare moments, this one the false claim that Bernie Sanders was responsible for saddling the post office with Donald Trump's awful, corrupt Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. I'm archiving it here because, well, why not?

This started back in July, when a Twitterer asked the question, "Why hasn't the postal service  gotten rid  of Louis DeJoy yet?" A Clintonite troll--one of the regulars--chimed in with a standard recitation of the myth:

"Because only the Postal Board can fire DeJoy, and Bernie Sanders blocked Obama from appointing Postal Board members so that Trump could appoint his own people.

"That's why.

The Postal Service Board of Governors is the body with the power to remove DeJoy--it needs a majority to do so--but that's the only thing the troll got right.

The background on all of this: Barack Obama treated the post office as if it was of no real importance to him. Vacancies on the USPS Board of Governors were left unfilled for years; the board was left in the hands of Republican appointees for the whole of Obama's administration.

In Feb., 2014, the New Republic took Obama to task for this.

When Obama eventually began making nominations, two of his choices--picked by Republican leader Mitch McConnell--were particularly bad. Mickey Barnett had been a lobbyist for the payday loan industry. James Miller was an advocate for postal privatization.

"Because of Mr. Miller’s repeated calls for privatizing the U.S. Postal Service, he has not been regarded as a friend of the postal unions. Mr. Miller has been considered “anti-union” over the years. His prepared statement to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on April 5, 2011 did nothing to change that view"

The postal worker's union objected to these nominees. At their behest, Sen. Bernie Sanders--long the top congressional champion of the post-office--placed a hold on them.

The American Postal Workers Union, in fact, assembled a large and formidable coalition of labor and civil rights groups, including the NAACP, the AFL-CIO, the National Urban League, who opposed confirmation of these appointees. Here's a contemporaneous news story about this coalition from the conservative Washington Examiner.

Republican leader Mitch McConnell then blocked the rest of Obama's nominees.

"Miller's determination was matched by a powerful supporter -- McConnell. In retaliation for Sanders' hold on Miller's nomination, McConnell blocked votes on the three Democratic nominees.

"'McConnell basically said, "if you don't give me James Miller III, I'm not giving you anybody,"' Sauber said. 'And that's what he did.'"

Obama then allowed this situation to continue for years without even trying to fix it. By the time he left office, there was only 1 remaining appointee on the Board of Governors. Trump was able to appoint his own slate, and that slate made Louis DeJoy the Postmaster General.

In order to blame Sanders for DeJoy's ascension--and his continued position--the Clinton cult version of these events erases Mitch McConnell, the details of those bad nominees and that coalition opposed to them and reduces Obama to just a guy who made some appointments that were blocked.

Finally, the Board of Governors serve staggered terms. Even if Obama's appointees had all been approved, the term of the last--David Shapira--would have expired in Dec. 2019. Trump would still have gotten to fill those seats, and we'd still be stuck with DeJoy.

That's the Twitter thread about this. But I'll go ahead and note, here at the end, that as of 20 May, 2022, now-President Joe Biden has appointed the majority of the Board of Governors. DeJoy could have been removed at any point in the last year; he continues as Postmaster General solely because Biden's appointees have kept him on. While, on social media, Clinton cultists continue to blame Bernie Sanders.

--j.