DelBene, Simpson Lead Bipartisan Push to Halt Post Office Consolidations, Mail Delays

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, Representatives Suzan DelBene (WA-01) and Mike Simpson (ID-02) announced a bipartisan push to halt planned postal facility consolidations across the country that could significantly delay mail delivery. In a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy signed by 40 House lawmakers, DelBene and Simpson called for a pause on any additional postal facility consolidations pending further review.

In May 2021, the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced that 18 postal facilities would resume consolidations this fall. These 18 facilities are among 82 that were slated for consolidation in 2015 before being indefinitely paused. The USPS Inspector General later found that many of these consolidations did not save money, relied on out-of-date data, and would delay mail delivery. Furthermore, in 2016, USPS committed to reviewing the consolidation plan before resuming the process, which has not happened yet.

“We are worried that moving forward with facility consolidations during the ongoing public health emergency, which continues to impact staffing availability, would result in further service delays and erosion of public trust in one of our nation’s most important institutions,” the lawmakers wrote.

USPS has not provided additional information about when these mail moves would commence and conclude, what impact these consolidations will have on employees at the facilities, or how the timely delivery of mail will be impacted.

In addition to a pause on these consolidations, the lawmakers requested more information about how these decisions were reached and the justification for moving forward with them.

The letter can be found here.