Sen. Durbin calls for U.S. Postmaster to step down

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KWQC) - Has your mail been slow to arrive at its intended destination? U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D- Ill.) calls mail deliveries in Illinois “choas” and in a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday slammed the policies of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, which have slowed down the United States Postal Service (USPS) and unacceptably decreased service for millions of Americans who rely on it.

“Nearly nine months after a new pstmaster general unveiled his surprise reorganization plan, the postal service in much of the nation is erratic. Mail delays are the longest they’ve been in generations,” Durbin said. “In my state, the chaos has stretched way beyond Chicago. We hear from all over the state -- Springfield, Champaign-Urbana, Belleville, East St. Louis, Quincy, Peoria, the Quad Cities, and Rockford. These days in Illinois and across America, we’re seeing real hardship for tens of millions of Americans waiting for mail delivery.,” Durbin said.

According to Durbin, at the end of December, the USPS had an on-time rate of 38 percent for nonlocal mail compared to 92 percent one year earlier. The USPS Inspector General released a report last month that showed there were 19,000 undelivered pieces of mail in four Chicago postal facilities.

Durbin called on DeJoy to step down if he cannot reverse the policies that have decimated USPS service.