KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The United States Postal Service (USPS) Office of Inspector General will conduct an audit of delayed mail and delivery operations in the Northland and Kansas City area.
The Thursday announcement comes after Congressmen Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) sent Postmaster General Louis DeJoy a letter on Monday requesting he host a listening session to hear resident complaints.
“I’m glad the Postal Service finally decided to wake up and investigate what’s causing these delivery issues, but this must result in action,” Graves said in a news release Thursday.
“The people of Kansas City and the Northland have been dealing with these delays for months on end. This can’t just be an investigation with a report — there needs to be a plan to fix these issues. The leadership of the United States Postal Service needs to understand just what they’ve been putting Missourians through and any investigation must take into account the voices of Missourians who have been affected by these delays.”
U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) also asked the U.S. Postal Service’s inspector general back in September to conduct an audit of mail delivery in the Kansas City area.
Cleaver and Graves previously wrote to DeJoy in October, expressing concerns about the agency’s failure to fulfill its mandated duty to provide six-day mail delivery under federal law.
The congressmen asked DeJoy to construct a plan for the agency to address mailing deficiencies in the area.
In Monday’s letter, Graves and Cleaver said DeJoy never made a plan.
“A stable, consistent, and responsive Postal Service is not a Republican or Democratic issue — it’s an essential function of government that hardworking families rely on and have come to expect over the past two centuries,” Cleaver said in the March letter.
“Unfortunately, under the leadership of Postmaster General DeJoy, we’ve seen this beloved institution quickly devolve into a sad display of constant delays, infrequent deliveries, and endless excuses.”
DeJoy responded to concerns in December, pointing at low unemployment rates in the Kansas City area and encouraging residents to apply to work for the Postal Service, the letter states.
In a press release Thursday, Cleaver said he believes an audit is just a small step in the right direction.
“I’m thankful to the workers of the USPS and Office of Inspector General for initiating an audit into the challenges in maintaining the Congressionally mandated six days per week mail service for the Kansas City area,” Cleaver said.
“However, until concrete action is taken to actually address these challenges, I believe Postmaster General DeJoy should still hear directly from Missourians to understand how his leadership has created unnecessary difficulties for families and small businesses in the heartland.”
