Rounds requested OIG investigation in December 2025
WASHINGTON – 9/24/26 – U.S. Senator Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) today issued a statement following the release of the United States Postal Service (USPS) Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) report on the status of mail service in South Dakota. This investigation was requested by Rounds in December 2025. The report comes following USPS’s announcement that the Sioux Falls processing facility will be upgraded to a regional facility at Rounds’ request, keeping more intrastate mail in South Dakota.
“It’s encouraging and unsurprising that the Inspector General’s report studying the mail service in South Dakota shows evidence to back up what we’ve been hearing and seeing for years: the United States Postal Service is not adequately serving South Dakotans,” said Rounds. “We’ve heard from thousands of South Dakotans who have real concerns about their mail service. Veterans aren’t getting prescriptions on time, bills are arriving after they’re due and newspapers are old news by the time they make it to your doorstep. At the same time, Postal Service executives are receiving bonuses and airport lounge memberships while telling South Dakotans there are no problems. Today’s report states otherwise.
“I’m grateful to Inspector General Tammy Hull and her team for their thorough review process in South Dakota and their thoughtful recommendations for improvements,” continued Rounds. “I’m also grateful for all of the South Dakotans who have sent feedback and contributed to this report. We’ll be watching the USPS’s team closely to see if and how these recommendations are implemented, and whether they actually make meaningful improvements in delivery time. Until then, we’ll keep the pressure on and continue to fight for a return to service standards that not only meet but exceed expectations.”
Read the report HERE.
BACKGROUND:
Rounds has been a leader on USPS issues in South Dakota, leading the push to keep local processing facilities in South Dakota. In April 2024, Rounds sent a letter to USPS Postmaster General Louis DeJoy urging USPS to avoid downsizing or significantly reorganizing mail processing operations in South Dakota. As a result, in February 2025, USPS committed to keeping the Dakota Central processing facility in Huron open, as well as investing $3 million in improvements to the facility. Rounds also secured a commitment from former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to keep mail that originates within South Dakota from leaving the state for processing.
In September 2025, Rounds sent a letter to Postmaster General David Steiner urging him to restore reliable mail service and requesting a meeting. Rounds and Steiner met in October. Steiner followed up on the meeting with a letter dismissing the issues raised by Rounds, claiming that the mail delays were caused by issues at processing facilities in Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City despite none of these facilities handling South Dakota’s intrastate mail. USPS leadership continues to deny any issues with South Dakota’s mail service despite the first-hand accounts from South Dakotans that say otherwise.
In December 2025, Rounds requested an investigation into persistent issues with USPS delivery in South Dakota. In April 2026, Rounds was notified that the Office of the Inspector General was on the ground in South Dakota to investigate mail service. In June 2026, Rounds sent a letter to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs announcing his intention to place a hold on all USPS nominees until South Dakota’s issues are resolved. As a result, two Postal Service Board of Governors nominees were removed from the legislative calendar in August 2026.
Senator Rounds has learned the hard way about dealing with the USPS at the highest levels. He could have started with the district manager for his state, but that wouldn’t have gotten him anywhere either. It’s telling that he had to ask the OIG to come essentially unannounced otherwise the USPS would try and cover any issues up. Steiner and Tulino know well what the issues are, the OIG doesn’t need to point them out. They’re just not going to do anything about them, and if they truly don’t know they should be fired immediately. But they do know, and we have to endure report after report citing failures galore which result in pretty much no improvement or accountability. Rounds will get nothing, and it’s important to note that when the USPS agrees to OIG findings, it doesn’t mean they’re going to act, it just means they agree. This is how they operate. Remember the consulting firm Steiner hired months ago to make recommendations about returning the USPS to solvency? Hawley and others have asked about the findings and what the study cost, but to date there’s been no response. Crickets. Retirement contributions not paid are likely in the billions by now and not a word about how and when they’ve paid back, yet the bonuses continue unabated. David Steiner and Doug Tulino are running this organization into the ground. They’ve not done anything that could even remotely be considered sound management. Hit the bricks fellas, please.