North Dakota's congressional delegation urges USPS to expand audit

Feb. 5—GRAND FORKS — North Dakota's federal congressional delegation is calling on the office of the U.S. Postal Service inspector general to expand a postal audit of Minnesota and North Dakota to include communities statewide and the proposed changes to mail processing in Bismarck and Grand Forks.

The Postal Service began its audit in late January after finding

widespread issues in Twin Cities post offices

and

after rural mail carriers in Bemidji

picketed working conditions. North Dakota's congressional delegation had already asked the audit to include Bismarck, Mandan and Minot post offices, but is asking for additional expansion to address widespread mail complaints and issues across the state, including in Grand Forks.

Members of Minnesota's

and North Dakota's congressional delegations have written letters to the Postal Service about concerns about mail delays and urging action.

"They need to respond to the public," Sen. John Hoeven said. "The point I made to Post Master General Louis DeJoy is that (the post office) needs to be consistent and dependable, and that's what we're after."

The public and elected officials have remarked on the lack of transparency and communication received about the complaints and the changes being made as part of the modernization efforts.

As part of those modernization efforts, the Postal Service has been looking into consolidating mail processing operations in North Dakota. Under the initial facility review findings, the Postal Service found evidence to support moving some regional mail processing from Bismarck and Grand Forks to Fargo.

At public input meetings held in Grand Forks and Bismarck, the representatives from the Postal Service refused to answer questions from the public, including from Hoeven's western regional director, Shari Buck.

The Postal Service also did little to notify the public that input meetings were happening

.

In their letter to the U.S. Postal Service Inspector General Tammy Hull, Hoeven, Sen. Kevin Cramer and Rep. Kelly Armstrong urged the expansion of the audit to encompass more of the state due to the wide range of mail issues and complaints they've received across the state.

"The communities of Grand Forks and Bismarck remain concerned with USPS's ongoing (facility reviews) of their current facilities and the potential relocation of sortation and processing operations to Fargo," the letter said. "While the USPS held public meetings in Grand Forks and Bismarck in December of 2023, we believe stakeholders were not properly notified and the holiday season prevented robust community engagement."

The issues raised in the letter include not only the facility reviews in Bismarck and Grand Forks, but also mail delays in Dickinson, rural customers in Bismarck not receiving newspapers and the poor condition of cluster box units — a freestanding structure with multiple mailboxes — in Minot and Horace.

Hoeven said he's been in contact with regional mail directors to ensure dependable mail not just in North Dakota but across the country.

"We're combining the audit as another way to follow up and make sure not only that (postal service does the audit) but that it works," Hoeven said. "Our objective is to get consistent, dependable mail service that people can count on."