ATLANTA — U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff announced new legislation to change how oversight of the United States Postal Service functions and new methods for how leadership of the agency is selected.
The Postmaster General Reform Act proposed by Ossoff comes amid ongoing issues with mail delays across the United States.
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Currently, the Postmaster General has no term limit on serving in office and is selected by the USPS Board of Governors and no confirmation by the U.S. Senate is required.
“The elected representatives of the people need a role in the selection of this high federal official whose duties have such an impact on our constituents,” Ossoff said in a statement announcing the legislation.
If the bill passes both chambers of U.S. Congress, term limits and Senate confirmation would be required.
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As delays impacting Atlanta and Georgia residents continued to pile up, literally in the case of the Palmetto facility in Georgia, members of Congress pushed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to address the issues.
In March, members of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives demanded answers to a variety of questions related to the delays and issues at different mail facilities.
Louis DeJoy testified before the Senate in April, but requests for documents and more have remained unanswered and unfulfilled.
Since the hearing, customer complaints have continued to come in, even as USPS says they’ve improved on delivery times. Some customers are still missing legal documents like court and eviction notices, which they say were never delivered.
Ahead of the November election, questions remain on if absentee ballots will be delivered on time, both to those requesting them, and when they’re sent back to elections offices.
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