U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff is continuing to press Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to resolve mail delays impacting Georgia families and businesses.
In a U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing, Sen. Ossoff pressed USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy — under oath — for specific answers and solutions to the continued delays Georgia families and businesses face getting mail and packages on-time.
“It’s about whether or not seniors in Georgia are receiving prescriptions. It’s the stacks of boxes of mail from courts that never arrived, that went to their destination. It’s the small businesses who are not able to get products to market,” Sen. Ossoff said to DeJoy.
Last month, amidst the poor delivery in Georgia this year, DeJoy and the USPS released updated targets for on time delivery in fiscal year 2025, which included a downgraded target for on-time delivery in Georgia and nationwide.
Sen. Ossoff asked DeJoy to confirm that he “lowered [his] targets for next year so [he] could meet [his] targets,” which he did.
SEN. OSSOFF: “On time delivery of first-class mail in metro Atlanta, North Georgia, is now at 75 percent, correct? Are we where we need to be?”
POSTMASTER GENERAL DEJOY: “We’re where we’re going to be for a little bit, yes.”
SEN. OSSOFF: “Are we where we need to be?”
POSTMASTER GENERAL DEJOY: “We’re where we’re going to be.”
SEN. OSSOFF: “It’s a simple question, do you believe that 75 percent on time delivery of mail in north Georgia is where we need to be?”
POSTMASTER GENERAL DEJOY: “50 percent of first-class mail in Georgia gets delivered a day in advance. We are in the 75 to low 80s on time, and 90 percent is the day after while we’re doing our transitions. Okay, that’s where we’re going to be. That’s one of the reasons why we have other types of service-related issues that–”
SEN. OSSOFF: “My time is limited. Let me assure you that for my constituents in Georgia, the mail being delivered on time, 75 percent of the time is not where we need to be. When you said 233 days ago that we would be where we need to be in 60 days.”
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SEN. OSSOFF: “Would you say that your tenure has been a success?”
POSTMASTER GENERAL DEJOY: “I would say that the 10-year plan has not reached what the plan said it would be. But I do–
SEN. OSSOFF: “Sorry not your 10-year plan, your tenure. Has your tenure as Postmaster General been a success?”
POSTMASTER GENERAL DEJOY: “Senator, I know how you feel about me. You’ve been quite public. Okay, so I’m not going to, you know, debate that you think I’m a failure. Fine, I don’t.”
SEN. OSSOFF: “It’s not about how I feel about you, Postmaster General. It’s about whether or not seniors in Georgia are receiving prescriptions. It’s the stacks of boxes of mail from courts that never arrived, to their destination. It’s the small businesses who are not able to get products to market and who are – this is, this is my time, Postmaster General. You’re here under oath before the U.S. Senate.”
POSTMASTER GENERAL DEJOY: “I know where I am.”
SEN. OSSOFF: “It’s small businesses who can’t operate. It’s death notices not delivered to family members, and you’re sitting here trying to explain that 75 percent on time delivery is a success, and it’s not. It’s not about how I feel about you, Postmaster General, it’s how my constituents are being served by the United States Postal Service.”
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SEN. OSSOFF: “You just lowered your targets for next year, correct?”
POSTMASTER GENERAL DEJOY: “I lowered the targets for next year to put that — what I just said out into the public that this is what it’s going to look like.”
SEN. OSSOFF: “You lowered your targets for next year so you could meet your targets.”
POSTMASTER GENERAL DEJOY: “So, I can make the changes that we need to make to provide a viable United States Postal Service.”
SEN. OSSOFF: “Well, Postmaster General, you’re not meeting your financial targets. You’re hemorrhaging cash when you said you’d be making money. Delivery in Georgia has been abysmal this year. You have not recovered as you said you would. You need to do better for my constituents in Georgia.”
