Budzinski Presses Postmaster General on Mail Delays Across Central, Southern Illinois

U.S. Rep. Nikki Budzinski confronted Postmaster General David Steiner at a House Oversight Committee hearing on March 17, demanding answers about deteriorating mail delivery across the rural communities she represents in the 13th Congressional District, which includes Morgan County precincts, portions of Springfield, and the Metro East.

Steiner confirmed that USPS' "biggest problem" area is precisely where Budzinski's district is located. He described the troubled region as stretching from Chicago to St. Louis and down to Memphis. According to Steiner, the issue is not the mail network itself, but a shortage of workers, and he said staffing postal facilities has been difficult because union contract rules limit the agency's ability to offer incentives to retain employees.

Budzinski pointed to a steady decline in on-time mail delivery across the 13th Congressional District, which covers portions of Springfield and the Metro East, noting that first-class mail delivered within two days has dropped from 92 percent in 2019 to about 83 percent today, with some downstate areas falling even lower in recent years.

At the hearing, Budzinski called on Steiner to address flailing USPS delivery rates that have impacted rural communities in her district and questioned why the Postmaster has continued to implement the so-called "Delivering for America" plan when the initiative has been proven to worsen on-time mail delivery rates. Budzinski has argued the previously implemented plan, instituted by former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, has made things worse.

When Budzinski asked whether the Postal Service is considering additional layoffs and changes to its delivery network, Steiner replied: "Look, what I've said is that we are in a crisis, and when you are in a crisis, everything has to be on the table." Steiner said delivery performance is improving nationwide but admitted service levels are still not where they need to be, and he confirmed the Postal Service has brought in a major restructuring firm to review operations as the agency faces ongoing financial challenges.

Those financial challenges are severe. In fiscal year 2025, the Postal Service lost about $9 billion, and in the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, USPS lost an additional $1.4 billion. The Postal Service is on track to run out of cash for paying its workers and vendors in about a year and may have to stop deliveries, Steiner told lawmakers.

David Marroni, a senior official at the Government Accountability Office who also testified at the hearing, told lawmakers he does not believe the Postal Service will be able to stabilize on its own, saying "congressional action is going to be needed."

Budzinski has continued to push for solutions, working with postal leaders locally and helping form a congressional postal caucus. She co-chairs the bipartisan Congressional Postal Service Caucus alongside Reps. Jack Bergman of Michigan and Chris Pappas of New Hampshire. The caucus convened a roundtable with postal union leaders on March 6 to discuss protecting postal workers and improving delivery rates for constituents.

With a restructuring firm now inside USPS and Steiner publicly acknowledging central Illinois as the agency's most acute problem, the hearing set up Budzinski and the caucus for a direct role in shaping whatever comes next for postal service in Morgan County and the broader downstate region.