Rep. Angie Craig Slams USPS Management Following Statewide Audit Results

EAGAN, MN – Today, U.S. Representative Angie Craig slammed the U.S. Postal Service after its Office of the Inspector General (OIG) published the results of their audit of Minnesota’s mail service.

The USPS OIG report showed widespread issues with USPS management in Minnesota, citing nearly 100,000 pieces of delayed mail in the facilities they visited on one day alone.

The report also tracked comments by customers about delivery issues including no mail for several days in a row, incomplete mail delivery and delivery messages for packages that had not actually been delivered. The report also highlighted a shortage of 551 employees across the MN-ND district.

It also stated that carriers in Minnesota were instructed to prioritize package deliveries over letters, and that multiple facilities were understaffed. In previous communications with Rep. Craig’s office, USPS stated that mail was current.

USPS Minnesota-North Dakota District Manager Angela Bye is on-record in the report disagreeing with the OIG’s recommendation to “review staffing alignment within the district and provide adequate staff” to ensure all committed mail is delivered on time.

“It is clear to me that MN-ND District Manager Angela Bye has some serious work to do to get the mail back on track in Minnesota, and her ‘disagreement’ with staffing recommendations in this report is deeply concerning to me,” said Rep. Craig. “I look forward to hearing from her, and the rest of USPS management, about their plan to swiftly implement these recommendations and get the mail delivered on time for Minnesotans in my district. And if current management is unable to deliver, Minnesotans deserve new leaders who will.”

The USPS Office of the Inspector General announced their investigation after nearly two years of advocacy from Rep. Craig on this issue, including a bipartisan call for a full audit this year.

Last January, Rep. Craig launched an online USPS survey to gauge the extent of postal issues in the Second District and received more than 3,300 responses from Minnesotans. Rep. Craig delivered those responses directly to Postmaster General DeJoy’s office in Washington DC.

Rep. Craig has inspected post offices in Eagan, Prior Lake and Lakeville amid concerning media reports about undelivered mail and poor working conditions for letter carriers trying to keep up with demand. She also raised concerns about the accessibility of the New Prague Post Office in August 2022 and called on USPS to create a new Lakeville-Farmington Post Office to help serve the growing area. USPS announced plans to build a new post office in New Prague following Rep. Craig’s advocacy.

Ahead of the 2023 holiday season, Rep. Craig called on USPS to release their plan on how to handle increased demand during the peak shipping season. In response, a USPS spokesperson told the Star Tribune the agency was “preparing for another successful holiday season’ like last year.”

Rep. Craig also introduced new legislation to require USPS to increase public-facing service level reporting and led the Minnesota House delegation in calling for a statewide USPS investigation.

Click here to read the results of the Minnesota-North Dakota district audit.

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