Georgia Lawmakers Press US Postal Service on Continued Mail Disruptions and Delays

Georgia lawmakers including Sen. Raphael Warnock and U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick are pressing leaders at the United States Postal Service for answers after continued reports of delays and disruptions in mail service in the state.

In a letter to USPS Postmaster General Louis Dejoy, Warnock, joined by McCormick and other Georgia representatives, shared constituents’ frustrations about the new Atlanta Regional Processing and Distribution Center in Palmetto, and asked a series of questions related to the agency’s “Delivering for America” plan.

Introduced by Dejoy in 2021, DFA is a 10-year plan designed to make the postal service profitable that includes consolidating key operations into a smaller number of large facilities.

“So far, USPS has failed to live up to this standard in Georgia. Since the opening of the new Atlanta Regional Processing and Distribution Center (RPDC) on February 24, 2024, we have increasingly heard from Georgians about disruptions and delays in their essential postal services,” the letter reads in part. “As USPS implements changes to its network, USPS must ensure no Georgians, especially those with limited mobility options and urgent needs, are left behind for the sake of modernization.”

Other House representatives who signed the letter are Reps. Lucy McBath, David Scott, Henry C. ‘Hank’ Johnson Jr., Nikema Williams and Sanford D. Bishop.

The lawmakers asked USPS how the agency is working to improve mail efficiencies and delivery times, and how USPS is working to ensure that people with limited mobility or access to transportation services will not be adversely impacted by the operational changes.

To read the full letter, visit https://tinyurl.com/2pzjasmu.

Additionally, Sen. Jon Ossoff’s office announced that the senator plans to question USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy under oath about delays linked to the Palmetto facility at a U.S. Senate hearing between 10 a.m. and noon April 16.

Last month, Ossoff launched an inquiry with Postmaster General DeJoy to provide detailed answers and explanation amid growing reports of missing and delayed mail processed through the distribution center.

The hearing will be available online at https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/hearings/oversight-of-the-united-states-postal-service and on C-SPAN.

In a separate letter to the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, Warnock, McBath, Scott, Johnson, Williams, and Bishop urged the office to expand its audit of the distribution center, requesting a report investigating whether operational changes will disproportionately affect Georgia’s rural, minority, low-income, and underserved communities. To read the letter, visit https://tinyurl.com/mpa4vje7.

Warnock and Ossoff, and U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, also recently launched an inquiry into alleged fraud at the Marietta Post Office last year.