Audit of the Postal Service to Be Conducted after Letter from Casey and Evans

U.S. Postal Service

U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) and U.S. Representative Dwight Evans (D-PA-3) this week announced that the United States Postal Service Office of the Inspector General (OIG) will conduct an audit evaluating the efficiency of operations at the Philadelphia, PA Processing and Distribution Center and the Delaware Processing and Distribution Center. This audit is being conducted following Senator Casey’s and Representative Evans’ letter to the OIG, requesting the investigation into mail delays. As part of this audit, OIG will also be auditing mail delivery, customer service, and property conditions at six select post offices in the Philadelphia and Delaware area, including Logan Station, Germantown Station, and North Philadelphia Station in Philadelphia.

“For years, I have heard from constituents about ongoing mail delays in Philadelphia. As long as these issues are allowed to persist, they will continue to disrupt the daily lives of Philadelphians and deny them a critical service necessary for their health, safety, and expression of their constitutional rights. I am encouraged to hear that the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General is taking these issues seriously and conducting an audit to get to the root of these persistent issues after Representative Evans and I requested they be investigated. Quality mail service—timely, secure, and responsive service—is not optional,” said Senator Casey.

Representative Evans said, “I’m very pleased that the Office of Inspector General is doing an audit as Senator Casey and I requested, and I hope this will lead to improved service for postal customers in Philadelphia and across the commonwealth.”

In October 2022, Senator Casey, Representative Evans, and Representative Matt Cartwright (D-PA-8) sent a letter urging United States Postal Service Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to address the ongoing mail service issues for Pennsylvanians. The letter was sent after a Congressional oversight hearing on USPS service issues in the Commonwealth that took place in Philadelphia in September. Casey, Evans, and Cartwright demanded that the Postal Service develop and share a plan to improve mail service throughout Pennsylvania.

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Over the past several years, constituents have noted persistent mail delays and theft at the Germantown Post Office in Philadelphia. These allegations include mail being delivered weeks or months late, lost packages, opened envelopes with money or gift cards removed, and other issues. In March of 2021, constituents informed the members of Congress who represented Philadelphia that over 2,000 pieces of mail were discovered dumped in bags in a lot near the Germantown post office. These bags of mail were dropped off at a nearby police station, where local authorities alerted the federal government.

Read the letter to the Inspector General here.

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