WASHINGTON — In a rare show of bipartisan unity, all 13 members of the Minnesota and North Dakota congressional delegations have come together to call on the United States Postal Service to make changes to fix ongoing delivery delays and other issues.
The lawmakers sent a joint letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy urging the agency to implement changes recommended following a recent audit by the U.S. Postal Service Inspector General,
The audit looked at six post offices in the Minnesota-North Dakota district and found more than 130,000 pieces of delayed mail over a two day period. The audit cited staffing shortages and the prioritization of package deliveries.
"It has long been clear that postal operations in the District are in trouble, and the investigation confirms this," the members wrote. "The District consistently ranks among the poorest performing districts."
The audit made several recommendations, including a staffing review and filling carrier and clerk vacancies. The lawmakers urged the Postmaster General to implement those recommendations, and provide monthly briefings to the delegations on the progress toward improving service.
"The Postal Service is a lifeline to so many of our constituents, and there must be progress in improving service to them," the members wrote.
The full text of the letter is below.
Dear Postmaster General DeJoy,
We write in response to the United States Postal Service (USPS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report titled “Minnesota-North Dakota District: Delivery Operations” (24-032-R24). This report contains important findings about postal operations and recommendations to improve service across the Minnesota-North Dakota District (“District”). We urge you to take this report as an opportunity to improve service and operations in the District, both within the scope of the report’s recommendations and beyond.
In the course of their investigation, the OIG visited six post offices in the District, selected based on their poor performance, to gather data on the operations at these facilities. Their findings are deeply concerning. In total, the investigators observed 130,858 pieces of delayed mail in just two days. They also found that staffing shortages contributed significantly to the poor performance of the District and led post office managers to prioritize package deliveries to keep up, going against Postal Service policy to deliver all First-Class Mail, Priority Mail, and Priority Express Mail on the day it is received at a facility. It has long been clear that postal operations in the District are in trouble, and the investigation confirms this.
As you know, the OIG made seven recommendations to USPS based on their findings, five of which are considered closed. The two open recommendations, to review staffing of units and implement strategies to fill carrier and clerk vacancies, are vital to the health of postal operations in the District. We urge you to implement these recommendations expeditiously and with the ultimate goal of improving service for Minnesotans and North Dakotans.
However, USPS’s efforts to improve service in the District should not stop with these recommendations. The District consistently ranks among the poorest performing districts. In the Postal Service’s opportunity rankings, which rank USPS districts from best (50th) to worst (1st) in performance, the District averaged 8.5 for mail delivery and 26.4 for package delivery in the final quarter of 2023. We need to ensure that the OIG’s recommendations are fully implemented and actually result in significantly improved mail delivery and services across our states.
To that end, we request that your staff provide monthly briefings to the staff of the Minnesota and North Dakota Congressional delegations on progress in improving service in the District. We also request that you provide us with monthly updates on the District’s opportunity rankings, staffing levels for different positions, and progress toward the implementation of recommendations two and three. The Postal Service is a lifeline to so many of our constituents, and there must be progress in improving service to them. Providing the Congressional delegation of the District with updates and data will provide much-needed transparency and accountability.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Tina Smith, United States Senator
Amy Klobuchar, United States Senator
John Hoeven, United States Senator
Kevin Cramer, United States Senator
Angie Craig, United States Representative
Betty McCollum, United States Representative
Tom Emmer, United States Representative
Dean Phillips, United States Representative
Brad Finstad, United States Representative
Ilhan Omar, United States Representative
Pete Stauber, United States Representative
Michelle Fischbach, United States Representative
Kelly Armstrong, United States Representative
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