ATLANTA (AP) — Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia said Wednesday he wants to give Congress more control over the election of the U.S. Postmaster General after a postal service collapse in his state.
Ossoff’s proposed postmaster general reform legislation would require the U.S. Senate to confirm a president’s appointment to the position. Currently, the position is appointed by the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors without congressional confirmation. The bill would also allow postmaster generals to serve a maximum of two five-year terms. There are currently no term limits on the position.
“The execution debacle at the U.S. Postal Service in Georgia was a failure of leadership and management and reflected the incompetent leadership and management of the Postmaster General himself,” Ossoff said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Legislators in all states have criticized Postmaster General Louis DeJoy for his leadership of the Postal Service. The legislation comes as DeJoy has sought Squash concerns out of Election officials Across the country, postal services are unprepared to handle the surge in mail-in ballots ahead of the November election.
Georgia state lawmakers have blamed operational problems at the post office in suburban Atlanta for many of the state’s delivery problems. The USPS has consolidated several facilities into a single one in Palmetto, which should make the delivery process more efficient.
Similar Hubs were established in Richmond, Virginia and Portland, Oregon, as the Postal Service attempted to cope with nationwide delivery delays and financial losses. The volume of First Class Mail has fallen 80% since 1997, while the number of parcel shipments has increased, leading to 87 billion dollars in losses from 2007 to 2020.
But Georgia was ranked as the worst performing state in a postal service Service performance report for the second quarter of 2024, which tracked the delivery time of mail. Ossoff has regularly pressed DeJoy for updates on his plans to improve working conditions at the agency, a concern shared by numerous Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives in Georgia.
“It’s about whether seniors get their medications in the mail,” Ossoff said Wednesday. “It’s about whether citizens get important notices from the court – summons to appear, eviction notices. It’s about whether small businesses can continue to operate. Quality mail service cannot be a luxury. It’s a necessity.”
After the opening of the facility in Palmetto Delivery rates slowedIn Georgia, the on-time delivery rate for first-class mail was 90% for most of 2023. This rate fell below 40% in March, but has since risen again to over 80%.
Ossoff visited Palmetto in June. He accused DeJoy of poor management because employees from across the state had to relocate to the Palmetto site.
DeJoy told local leaders He planned to hire additional staff and noted that postal service in the state was improving.
Ossoff said on Wednesday that Georgians deserve better and said he expects bipartisan support for the bill.
“This is such an important job that there needs to be a real interview with the people elected by the people to confirm the most important officials of the federal government,” Ossoff said.
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Charlotte Kramon is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on issues that are not public knowledge. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramon
