During the summer of 2020, there were few bigger Democratic super villains than Louis DeJoy.

The postmaster general was accused of masterminding an attempt to steal the election for former President Donald Trump by subverting mail-in voting in the midst of the pandemic. He was hauled up to Capitol Hill to defend his policies. When Joe Biden won, it was generally assumed that his days were numbered.

Now, nearly three years later, DeJoy isnā€™t just still standing atop the U.S. Postal Service, heā€™s become a critical player in Bidenā€™s environmental agenda, striking a partnership with the presidentā€™s green guru, John Podesta, as USPS considers an environmental renaissance of its fleet. Itā€™s a remarkable change of script for one of the more memorable side characters of the Trump years. And it produced one of the most unlikely pairings in Washington D.C., something that the camps will privately acknowledge even as theyā€™re loath to discuss it personally. Asked repeatedly about their good-natured relationship, both DeJoy and Podesta declined to comment.

The pairā€™s partnership centers around an effort to introduce 66,000 electric vehicles to the USPS by 2028, itself part of a broader initiative to add 106,000 new vehicles to USPSā€™ fleet. The initiative was buoyed by $3 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act, a funding solution floated by the Biden administration, according to a person close to DeJoy who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the discussions.

During the press conference outside USPS headquarters last December to announce the initiative, DeJoy thanked Podesta for his ā€œfocus ā€¦ in moving the ball forwardā€ on the project. He noted that the two had met about five years earlier, for three or four hours, and wondered if Podesta remembered him.

Podestaā€™s response could be heard from a nearby distance. ā€œYouā€™re unforgettable!ā€ he shouted. He later thanked DeJoy when it was his turn at the podium.

In the formal announcement of the USPSā€™ investment in electric vehicles, DeJoy expressed his gratitude for Podesta by name.

ā€œThe Postal Serviceā€™s vehicle initiative, and I personally, have benefited from the collaborative spirit of John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President and leader of the Office of Energy Innovation, as well as leaders within the Council on Environmental Quality and the Climate Policy Office,ā€ he said in the statement.

Privately, DeJoy has come to embrace the idea that heā€™s now a climate pioneer.

ā€œWhat I hear him saying is the Postal Service is going to be the greenest delivery company in the nation, and that not using us to deliver packages is going to be like not recycling,ā€ the person close to DeJoy said. ā€œHe jokingly says that between electric vehicles and reducing our transportation network and our own carbon footprint, heā€™s going to get the Nobel Prize for green.ā€

The electric vehicle issue was not the first time that DeJoy worked with the Biden White House. He partnered with the administration on the initiative to distribute Covid-19 tests through the mail and lobbied Republican lawmakers to support postal reform legislation championed by Democrats.

  • vanontom@geddit.social
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    1 year ago

    I wonder what DeJoy is really doing behind the scenes. Slow walking everything? Inserting his companies into transactions? Are there literally any electric USPS trucks delivered or in service yet from the (very strangely) ā€œchosenā€ manufacturer? How is the quality? He has not earned the trust back yet.

    • EmpathicVagrant@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Sending out empty trucks, removing sorting machines right before the election and never replacing them, destroying the function of the institution while making hollow gestures like electric trucks for political points, thatā€™s what heā€™s doing.