US Senators question USPS Postmaster General on delivery disruption in Cook County

Minnesota’s United States Senators Tina Smith (DFL) and Amy Klobuchar (DFL) are looking for answers regarding the United States Postal Service (USPS) delivery interruption in Cook County’s east end at the start of the year. The two have penned a letter to USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy with questions about the cause, communication within the postal system, and the impact on county residents.

A press release from Smith’s office read, “On December 19, USPS staff assured the Senators that service in Minnesota was stable – a claim that is contradicted by the Cook County problems. The Senators are demanding answers on steps USPS plans to take to rectify the issue and prevent it from happening again.”

In the letter to DeJoy, the senators criticized upper level management at the USPS, saying that too often the blame is put on local offices and postal workers. The letter read, “You, as Postmaster General, and your senior leadership at the district and national levels are responsible for ensuring good service for Minnesotans. The buck stops with you. If your oversight practices fail to notify you of disruptions of this magnitude, that failing is yours.”

Both Smith and Klobuchar have raised concerns over postal service reliability in the past several years, as recently as December of 2024, according to the press release. In their letter to DeJoy, they pointed out the way that service interruptions impact their constituents, especially those relying on the USPS for delivery of things like prescription medications, Social Security benefits, and paychecks.

After outlining the reasons for their concerns, the senators included a series of questions for DeJoy. The letter asks for a response to the questions by Jan. 16. The questions are as follows:

1. Is it true that leadership of the Minnesota-North Dakota District were unaware that a number of Cook County residents went over a week without mail until we notified them?
2. How did oversight measures fail to notify leadership of addresses going so long without a delivery?
3. When will all outstanding mail be processed and delivered to affected residents?
4. Why were residents not permitted to pick up mail from local post offices?
5. What are the current staffing levels for letter carriers, career and non-career, for Minnesota and Cook County?
6. Did the Postal Service’s Service Performance Dashboard fully capture and report these delays?
7. What steps are you taking to prevent future lapses in contracted delivery service?

WTIP has received reports from east end residents that at least some mail was delivered on Jan. 8, though the local USPS staff has been unable to confirm whether this indicates a return to regular service, as USPS regulations prohibit them from making statements to the media.

Klobuchar and Smith, however, are also concerned about the future. They wrote in their letter to DeJoy, “Like all communities, Minnesota’s North Shore relies on the Postal Service as an essential public service. We urge you to not only address this failure, but to work to prevent these repeated issues from occurring again.”

Kirsten Wisniewski January 10, 2025