Missouri, Kansas representatives demand action from U.S. Postal Service on slow mail delivery

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Improvements to Kansas City's mail delivery are not happening fast enough. That's the message from five bipartisan members of Congress on both sides of the state line.

KMBC 9 Investigates has pushed for nearly a year to get answers from the United States Postal Service about slow or missing mail in the Kansas City region.

An audit from the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General came out this summer about delays at the Kansas City, Missouri, Processing and Distribution Center after KMBC’s reporting and demands from members of Congress.

The audit found nearly 100,000 pieces of mail delayed from the facility, with staff shortages and chronic absenteeism causing your mail to not show up on time.

“Absolutely, I'm concerned,” Rep. Sharice Davids, D-Kansas, told KMBC 9 Investigates on Tuesday.

Davids joined four other members of the U.S. House of Representatives on both sides of the state line to sign a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, calling it unacceptable that the U.S. Postal Service is failing to keep up with mail delivery.

“Right now, nobody has trust in the postal service,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Missouri.

“I’m at my wit's end,” Davids said. “We should have seen results. Yesterday is when we should have seen them. And it's why we're pushing.”

Both Cleaver and Davids said DeJoy is responsible for the failures of the U.S. Postal Service in the Kansas City region.

KMBC has asked both national and local U.S. Postal Service officials for the postmaster general's plan on the audit recommendations. We’re still waiting to hear back.