Over two hours of fierce scrutiny, Democrats and some Republicans demanded fuller explanations and documentary evidence about delayed mail, particularly medicines that were not delivered in a timely manner. Democrats, in particular, reprimanded Mr. DeJoy for being overly secretive and not providing data to support the moves he had undertaken.
Pressed by Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio, with the “heartbreaking stories” of Americans, including veterans, missing medicine because of those delays, Mr. DeJoy offered a measured apology.
“Senator, we are working here feverishly to get the system running at stability and also to hire more workers to handle the delivery process,” he said. “We all feel bad about what the dip in our service, the level it has been.”
But he turned down attempts by Senator Jacky Rosen, Democrat of Nevada, to get him to commit to providing transcripts or minutes of all closed, nonpublic board of governor meetings, as well as an analysis of the effect of the changes on veterans, working families and older Americans.
“You cannot commit to providing the American people the analysis that you used to base your decisions on about their very important medications, their Social Security checks, and all the other things, you won’t commit to the American people to be transparent?” Ms. Rosen asked.
Mr. DeJoy said he would try to provide “the analysis that designed the truck schedule that I directed.”
Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, the top Democrat on the Senate panel, gave his own repeated lashings. He told Mr. DeJoy that his decisions “have cost Americans their health, their time, their livelihoods and their peace of mind.”
