Wyden, colleagues call out Postal Service leaders for unsustainable price hikes, poor service

WASHINGTON (KTVZ) -- As more and more Oregonians grow dissatisfied with the U.S. Postal Service for its price hikes coupled with inefficiency under Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., joined his Senate colleagues Tuesday in pushing for change to protect the jobs, businesses and Americans who rely on the service. 

In a letter to the USPS Board of Governors, the senators noted DeJoy’s tenure has produced higher prices and poor service. USPS announced earlier this month that the cost of First-Class Mail Forever stamps would increase to 73 cents in July. 

In 2020, DeJoy announced the “Delivering for America” scheme, ostensibly to address the operational and financial strains the USPS was confronting. But Wyden said the plan has instead resulted in worse customer service, unsustainable postage increases, and drastic declines in the postal industry that employs nearly 8 million people and produces $1.9 trillion of annual economic activity. 

“We have a vested interest in seeing USPS succeed. Our constituents rely on it for their daily correspondence, bills, life-saving medications, and sometimes, their livelihood. The U.S. Postal Service is, by law, a fundamental service provided to the people by our government,” wrote the senators. “It has become clear that under the DFA, USPS is continuing to implement changes that are harmful to Americans and the American businesses that rely on the service. As the Board of Governors, you must step in before further harm is caused.”

Despite Congress passing bipartisan legislation and appropriating additional funds that took USPS from $9.2 billion in losses in 2020 to a one-time spike in net income to $57 billion in 2022, leadership at USPS has continued to increase postage rates.

Since 2022, the price of First-Class stamps increased from 60 cents to 68 cents, with an additional 5-cent increase announced for this July. From 2022 to 2023, USPS saw the largest drop in First-Class mail in 10 years, greater even than during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The letter, led by Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), was also signed, in addition to Wyden, by Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Peter Welch (D-VT).