Georgia House Republicans criticized Postmaster General Louis DeJoy of the United States Postal Service (USPS) for “mail service delivery breakdowns” in the Peach State, demanding answers in a joint letter on Monday.
A press release on Rep. Barry Loudermilk’s (R-GA-11)website says that in the letter, Georgia lawmakers “take Postmaster General DeJoy to task and describe the many frustrations constituents are facing with the delays in delivery and receipt of their mail…” and want “answers to several questions regarding the mail service delivery breakdowns.”
“As Members of the United States House of Representatives,” the letter states, “we have received numerous calls from constituents frustrated with the abrupt delay in delivery and receipt of their mail. Our constituents, most of whom have always viewed the USPS as reliable, depend on timely delivery of mail to pay their bills, receive their paychecks, file their taxes, send their ballot, and in some cases get medications and other life-saving products.”
The lawmakers added, “Unfortunately, many have lost faith – some may never hold the Postal Service in high regard again, especially when it is unable to forecast when delivery times may return to normal.”
Loudermilk wrote the letter to DeJoy (pictured above), saying, “All Georgians and Americans deserve to have secure access to their mail without disruption. These significant delays and operational breakdowns occurring across the state are not acceptable and require USPS to conduct rigorous oversight and provide much-needed transparency to ensure similar disruptions are quickly resolved.”
Additional co-signers included Representatives Austin Scott (R-GA-08), Buddy Carter (R-GA-01), Drew Ferguson (R-GA-03), Rick Allen (R-GA-12), Rich McCormick (R-GA-06), Andrew Clyde (R-GA-09), Mike Collins (R-GA-10), and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14).
DeJoy has been criticized for severe mail service delays due to the renovation efforts of its postal delivery network throughout Georgia.
USPS has also suffered financially. For fiscal year 2023, the USPS took a net loss of $6.5 billion. Due to these significant financial difficulties, the government agency has proposed rate increases to the Postal Regulatory Commission that would go into effect in July 2024. According to USPS, the “new rates include a 5-cent increase in the price of a First-Class Mail Forever stamp from 68 cents to 73 cents.”
Georgia’s postal service has also been scrutinized for postal crime. Mail and package theft has plagued customers, and attacks on postal carriers have become a significant risk, so the USPS launched “Project Safe Delivery” in May 2023 to combat the problem.
In a mid-March press release, USPS reported, “For the 2024 Fiscal Year so far, the Postal Inspection Service has made 73% more arrests for letter carrier robberies over the same time period in the prior fiscal year. This increase is the direct result of the efforts made by the Postal Inspection Service and federal and local law enforcement partners to aggressively pursue those who rob our letter carriers and steal mail.”
DeJoy also spoke of the progress made by the combined efforts of USPS and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. “We are not done,” he said.
The postmaster general added, “Ensuring the well-being of our letter carriers and all postal employees remains of the utmost importance. We will continue to make major investments to secure the postal network while directing the full weight of our law enforcement resources to protecting our employees and the mail.”
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Debra McClure is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network. Follow Debra on X / Twitter
