Ossoff says change should start at top for U.S. Postal Service
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff held a news conference Wednesday to announce “major legislation” that would change how U.S. postmasters general are appointed and how long they serve.
Titled the “Postmaster General Reform Act of 2024,” the congressional bill would make the postmaster general a presidentially appointed position instead of a board-appointed position. The postmaster general would also have a term limit of five years, which may be renewed for another five years. Currently, the postmaster general has no fixed term.
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“Postal workers are out there every day, working their hearts out to deliver the mail on time. But when they don’t have the competent leadership and competent management at the top to get the job done, we see the kinds of performance failures we’ve seen in Georgia,” Ossoff said.
According to the bill, the Senate would participate in the postmaster general’s appointment, providing the president with “advice and consent.”
“This is a job that so impacts our day-to-day lives that the elected representatives of the people need the opportunity to ask tough questions about whether or not a candidate for this job is qualified,” he said. “This is a job of such importance that there needs to be a real job interview.”
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Ossoff hasn’t been shy about his criticisms of the U.S. Postal Service. The service’s Regional Processing and Distribution Center in Palmetto has seen problems since it opened in February, ranging from backed-up mail trucks to delayed or missing packages. Ossoff launched an inquiry into the center a month after it launched, asking about the source of the delays.
In August, an audit by the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Postal Service said the distribution center faced “serious challenges” related to understaffing, training, supervision and more.
If enacted, Ossoff said the bill would go into effect upon the nomination of the next U.S. postmaster general. Louis DeJoy, the current postmaster general, was appointed in 2020.
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