Senator Rounds Demands Federal Investigation into Persistent USPS Delays in South Dakota
- Steve Jurrens
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Northeast Radio SD News – South Dakota - U.S. Senator Mike Rounds has formally requested that the United States Postal Service (USPS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) launch a full investigation into what he describes as “persistent issues” with mail delivery across South Dakota.
The request, outlined in a letter sent to USPS Inspector General Tammy Hull on December 9, 2025, calls on the OIG to identify the root causes of the delays and to evaluate the need for a dedicated regional processing facility in the state.
Rounds stated in the letter that he has heard from “hundreds of constituents” about “substantial issues” with intrastate mail, packages, and periodicals. He stressed that these delays are not merely inconveniences but also affect the health and well-being of South Dakotans, citing instances of veterans missing healthcare appointments and medications arriving too late to be used.
Dispute Over Cause of Delays
The Senator attributes the current problems to a “flawed design of the USPS network,” which he argues forces mail traveling within or to South Dakota to take a “circuitous manner” route through locations outside the state.
The request for an investigation follows a meeting Rounds had in October with Postmaster General David Steiner, which itself was prompted by a September letter from the Senator urging a restoration of reliable service. However, Rounds stated that Postmaster General Steiner dismissed the concerns in a follow-up letter, claiming mail delays were caused by issues at processing facilities in Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City—facilities the Senator contends do not handle South Dakota’s intrastate mail.
Request for Specific Actions
Rounds has asked the OIG to investigate several key areas, including:
• Determining the root causes of mail delays.
• Assessing mail and package handling processes, transportation schedules, and the current design of the USPS network’s mail flow.
• Evaluating the need for the construction of a regional processing facility in South Dakota.
Rounds’s advocacy for USPS service has a track record, including leading the effort to keep local processing facilities in South Dakota. As a result of previous actions, USPS committed in February 2025 to preserving the Dakota Central processing facility in Huron open and investing $3 million in improvements to the site.
In the letter, Rounds concluded by urging the Inspector General to “act swiftly to identify and resolve the causes of these failures and help return South Dakota’s mail service to the standards Americans deserve.”