Oversight Hearing – U.S. Postal Service
House Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
2025-04-30
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Source: Congress.gov
Participants
Transcript
U
Unknown (SPEAKER_10)
Let's start now. Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government will come to order. This hearing is titled Oversight of the US Postal Service. Members will have five legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and insert extraneous material into the record. I now recognize myself for an opening statement. I'd like to thank General Hull for being here today. The United States Postal Service is a mainstay for most, if not all, of our constituents and our communities. Its operations are vast, with 640,000 employees working to deliver millions of pieces of mail and packages daily. Yet the Postal Service has faced significant financial challenges over the last several decades. Except for the fiscal year 2022, the Postal Service has incurred losses at each of the fiscal years since 2007. Last year, the USPS lost more than $9.5 billion. The Office of the Inspector General, OIG, plays a critical role in righting the Postal Service ship. Its more than 900 employees across the country protect the integrity and the accountability of America's Postal Service, its revenues, its assets, and its employees. There's no better example of the OIG's importance than with the Postal Service Delivering for America Plan, or DFA. The DFA has a 10-year strategic plan intended to transform the Postal Service into self-sustaining and a high-performing entity. However, the DFA has been controversial. It has impacted mail service and delivery, particularly in rural communities. The OIG has identified issues with the DFA's launch of the Regional Processing and Distribution Center in Atlanta, Georgia, and with the Local Transportation Optimization Initiative in Richmond, Virginia. And according to the OIG, many of the projections of which the DFA was developed are no longer relevant. In addition to the challenges of the DFA, mail crime has increased significantly over the last several years. The OIG plays a critical role in investigating crimes that occur within the Postal Service and throughout the mail system. For example, in fiscal year 2024, the OIG arrested 89 individuals involved in narcotics trafficking and helped secure 65 convictions. God bless you. In total, the OIG's investigative division has completed just under 1,400 investigations, leading to 401 arrests and return of approximately $11 million to the Postal Service.
U
Unknown (SPEAKER_10)
Finally, in conducting many of the audits and investigations, the OIG has embraced the use of technology. I look forward to learning more about how the OIG leverages technology, including the use of AI to conduct its work. Again, I want to thank you for being here today, and I now recognize the ranking member, Mr. Hoyer.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and thank you for scheduling this hearing with Miss Hall. Obviously, this is a very important hearing. The Postal Service performs an extraordinary service. In fact, it's one of the first services that our founding fathers established so that the the colonies and later the United States of America could be connected in all of its areas. This is a very, very important service that they perform. And obviously, Mr. Chairman, you mentioned the operating deficit that they have. One of the reasons for that, of course, is unlike a private sector company, it delivers to places that are not profitable. and are costly and give a service, but do not pay their way, if you will.
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