WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy about reports of undelivered and delayed mail throughout the District of Columbia. In the letter, Norton said her office has not been receiving timely responses on cases referred to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).
“My constituent services office has approximately 130 cases of mail problems open with USPS, at least a quarter of which have been open for almost a year or longer,” Norton wrote. “This historically high number reflects both a large number of cases and USPS’s slow response to my office.”
The letter follows.
April 28, 2022
Louis DeJoy
Postmaster General and CEO
United States Postal Service
475 L’Enfant Plaza SW
Washington, DC 20260
Dear Postmaster General DeJoy:
I write, once again, to express my concerns about undelivered and delayed mail throughout the District of Columbia. I continue to receive frequent inquiries from D.C. residents about undelivered and delayed mail. Moreover, my office has not been receiving timely responses regarding cases we have referred to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).
My constituent services office has approximately 130 cases of mail problems open with USPS, at least a quarter of which have been open for almost a year or longer. This historically high number reflects both a large number of cases and USPS’s slow response to my office. Each month my office sends a request for an update on each case, and separately sends an aggregate spreadsheet listing all of our open cases.
In response to one of my recent letters to USPS regarding mail issues in D.C., USPS indicated that delays in delivery were due to employee leave during the pandemic, along with problems of retention of the local supplemental workforce. We are no longer in the same situation with the pandemic that we were at that time, so it is not clear why delivery issues persist.
I ask that you respond in writing regarding how USPS will address both delivery issues in D.C. and USPS’s lack of responsiveness to my office by May 12, 2022.