Rep. Dusty Johnson told a crowd it’s time to “turn up the heat” on the U.S. Postal Service following thousands of constituent complaints.
He held a U.S. Postal Service Round Table in Sioux Falls to continue discussions around the growing frustrations with the mail carrier. The round table included frustrated South Dakota residents and Texas Rep. Pete Sessions via zoom. Sessions serves as chairman of the House Subcommittee on Government Operations. He’s previously investigated the USPS and been critical of its work in rural America.
USPS was invited to attend the town hall, but Johnson said the entity declined once they knew media was invited.
"When we've tried to get a response from locals, things have gone pretty good," Johnson said. "Anytime we've ever tried to get a response from leadership further up the food chain, whether that be regional or national, I have been tremendously disappointed."
Chairman Sessions pledged to discuss the issue with Rep. Johnson in South Dakota firsthand and bring the regional USPS there as well. Johnson called Sessions “proactive.”
“I think he brought the right energy,” Johnson said. “I think he showed this is a serious problem that matters a lot to the South Dakota delegation and that we are not going to accept inaction.”
Johnson said both he and his team are feeling the frustrations from constituents.
“Well just in the last months we’ve gotten 3,000 unfortunate testimonials from South Dakotans about failures of the postal service. And listen, I don’t get any joy out of beating up the postal service. I know so many of their employees are hardworking folks who are trying to do right by South Dakotans, but the system itself is failing," Johnson said. "And this is a very important event because I think it lets us elevate this issue, pull in literally the number one guy in the House who oversees the postal service and let his team feel the frustration in the room.”
Johnson said he’s taking testimonials from South Dakotans to provide to the new postmaster general Steiner. Steiner took over in July 2025. Johnson told the crowd he has a message to Steiner in that report.
“I think we realize he has inherited a mess. I’m gonna say, ‘You’re on the clock. One year on the job should’ve been enough to show real and meaningful improvement and a real plan on the path forward,” Johnson said. “And Mr. Steiner, if we don’t have meaningful improvement by July of 2026, I’m calling for your resignation.’”
Johnson said he’d like to see more government accountability over the USPS, which he calls difficult because it’s a “quasi-governmental” entity.
