Dusty Johnson

South Dakota residents and businesses report severe mail delays, lost items, and a lack of accountability from USPS leadership.

These service failures have caused financial damage to businesses and life-threatening delays in medication for veterans.

Rep. Dusty Johnson hosted a roundtable where postal workers stated they had previously warned leadership about the system's flaws.

Missed medications, lost checks, overflowing mailboxes, hour-long lines and collapsing confidence in a once-trusted institution dominated a lengthy roundtable discussion on the U.S. Postal Service hosted by Rep. Dusty Johnson on Jan. 16 in Sioux Falls.

Testimony given by business leaders, veterans, postal workers and Sioux Falls, as well as rural residents all emphasized the same narratives: Mail service in South Dakota has deteriorated rapidly, accountability from USPS leadership is lacking and patience among customers — and lawmakers — is gone.

“For better, for worse, we all realize that squeaky wheels do get grease,” Johnson said. “And I don't know if this forum will move the needle markedly, but I will tell you this: Frankly, it cannot possibly make things worse.”

But despite local engagement, once concerns reach USPS senior leadership, it seems to fall on apathetic ears and little response is provided.

“I am like the rest of you, just trying to solve the gosh darn problem,” Johnson said. “So that's why we're elevating, that's why we're getting a little louder and that's why I'm hopeful that this could move the needle a little bit.

Johnson also shared his disappointment in the Postal Service’s absence from the roundtable meeting, despite being invited.

“They indicated that they were unwilling to attend because media would be present,” Johnson stated after inquiring USPS’s lack of attendance.

“I'll tell you what, playing nice behind the scenes is not working, which is why we're going to continue to turn up the heat.”

A system South Dakotans no longer trust

At the Hilton Garden Inn, soon to be known as The Catlin, in downtown Sioux Falls, Johnson opened the roundtable by recalling what the United States Postal Service once represented.

“I remember… thinking that the Postal Service was the best value in American history,” he said, describing sending a letter across the state for 25 cents overnight. “I was mystified. I thought, ‘How did they do it? How are they this good?’ And now,...it’s, ‘How do they do it? How did it get this bad?’”

While acknowledging that declining mail volume, as much as 80%, required changes, Johnson said nearly every reform has pushed USPS “more toward systemic failure.” He repeatedly stressed that the blame does not lie with frontline employees.

“This is not about the men and women in the blue on our streets,” Johnson said. “This is about the total failure of leadership and the system that they have erected.”

Businesses hit with real financial damage

Nate Gonseth, of Soukup Construction in Sioux Falls, described severe business disruptions caused by frequently delayed and lost checks, particularly when it comes to customer payments.

We call them…, they say, ‘We sent you a check a month ago.’ So we tell them to please stop payment on that check, and then they reissue it,” Gonseth said. “We'll get that check. It'll show up in a week… and then 60 days later, those original checks will show up.”

Gonseth also detailed an incident involving three checks totaling nearly $1 million that arrived long after customers had stopped payment and reissued replacements.

“If our process doesn’t work perfectly internally… it runs through again,” he said, forcing the company to scramble to correct the error.

The company has even had to pay penalty fees in some instances due to USPS delays.

The result, Gonseth said, is lost confidence.

“It always has been [reliable], until the last 12 months,” he said. “Now we’re seeing delayed mail delivery. We’re seeing lost mail delivery.”

That lack of confidence has forced operational changes recently.

“We’re getting ready to issue 150 to maybe 175 W-2s,” Gonseth said. “Normally, we would just put those in the mail… Right now, we’re handing them out in person.”

Long lines, short staffing and customers walking away

Craig Lawrence, of Lawrence & Schiller, said USPS service in Sioux Falls is actively driving customers away.

“I went to the one [post office] on the west side… about 12 people in line,” Lawrence said.

Frustrated, he left and went to UPS instead.

“A smiling young lady greeted me… It was the same price at UPS as the Postal Service. They’re driving us away.”

Lawrence questioned how a city of roughly 246,000 people is still served by only two post offices.

In late September 2025, USPS officials made the decision to end all U.S. Postal Services operations at Lewis Drug and Hy-Vee stores in Sioux Falls, Brandon, Tea and Harrisburg, citing this would better “fulfill our commitment to serve our communities with efficient and reliable access to retail services,” according to an emailed statement from USPS Strategic Communications Specialist Tara Jarrett to the Argus Leader.

“Under the CPU contract terms, either party may terminate with 120 days’ notice,” the statement read. “We have exercised this right in cases where nearby post offices can serve the community directly.”

Johnson referred to this change as possibly “the single biggest mistake they have made in Sioux Falls with mail service.”

“It was a terrible decision,” Johnson said, emphasizing that this was relayed to USPS officials at the time. “They had said, laughably, that they only use those third-party services when they do not have capacity within the Postal Service regime proper. And they said, ‘Now we have capacity, and so we don't need these private sector people anymore.’”

After 50 years in business, Lawrence asked why consequences haven’t followed.

“If these people worked for me, they’d be cleaning out their desks right now,” Lawrence said. “Why can’t Congress do that?”

Johnson responded that USPS leadership has been unusually resistant to congressional pressure.

“The thing that has surprised me the most… is how little the senior leadership of the United States Postal Service seems to care,” he said.

Veterans, medicine and life-or-death delays

Johnson shared survey results from 4,200 South Dakotans showing 50% rate USPS service as “poor” or “very poor,” with more than 3,000 surveyors who shared their specific stories of USPS difficulties.

Johnson also read testimony from residents who depend on mail for their health.

“I’m a veteran who relies on the United States Postal Service to get my medication,” one veteran wrote. “All four prescriptions arrived late, and one has yet to arrive. I ended up going to the VA hospital to refill the prescription.”

Another Rapid City resident said a critical medication was routed from Fort Meade to Denver, New York, back to Denver, then to New York and Denver again before returning to South Dakota.

“I went into kidney failure because they were playing games with the mail,” he wrote.

Packages sent across the country — repeatedly

Mary Fuchs ,of Huron, who was also in attendance during the roundtable discussion, described three incidents since September, including a Christmas package that arrived 10 days late, which became an example of everything residents find wrong with USPS routing.

“It went from Littleton, Massachusetts to Springfield… to Des Moines… to Opa-locka, Florida,” Fuchs said — twice — before traveling through Kansas, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Chicago, West Fargo and finally to the Huron distribution center.

“I received the package on Dec. 29,” Fuchs said. “We had a lot of laughs about it, but then I had to send all of my Christmas gifts.”

She shipped replacements through UPS.

“They guaranteed delivery… two days later,” Fuchs said. “And those gifts did get delivered two days later.”

She also described Christmas cards returned as “undeliverable” despite unchanged addresses and a missing check mailed to a business on Dec. 8, worth several thousand dollars.

“They called me wanting to know why they had not received payment. And I was flabbergasted,” Fuchs said.

The bank confirmed that the check had not yet been cashed, so Fuchs stopped payment.

“On Sunday (Jan. 18), I will be hand delivering the check to Watertown,” she said.

Postal workers: “We warned them”

Todd West, retired postal service employee and current president of the South Dakota Postal Workers Union, said postal employees warned leadership years ago that consolidation plans would fail.

“They said, ‘Well, we can’t go backward,’” West recalled after suggesting local mail drops remain local. Instead, mail was routed through distant hubs like Omaha, Denver and Fargo.

“If a one day delay meant the whole system worked, I’d be fine with that,” West said. “The problem isn’t the one day delay, it’s the 60-day delay.”

West detailed how years ago, a National Business Agent (NBA) stated that USPS “had a habit” of trying to fit “a square peg in a round hole.”

“Then they figure they can fix it afterward, and it may take years to get things fixed,” he said.

Stacy Douglas, president of the South Dakota Association of Letter Carriers, acknowledged the frustration during public input, stating that she was surprised by what was being shared during the roundtable event.

“We want to get you your mail,” Douglas said. “There are staffing issues. There are just delays that we have no control over. We have tried to fight this stuff before it happens they don't listen to us….So I just want to say, on behalf of all your letter carriers, we're really sorry. We are trying also, and it's just a system that's broken from the top down.”

Newspapers: “It’s a prairie fire”

Dave Bordewyk, executive director of the South Dakota NewsMedia Association, said USPS failures threaten local journalism.

“The system is broken,” Bordewyk said.

Newspapers inject nearly half a million pieces of mail into the system each week.

“It’s a prairie fire right now, from border to border,” he said.

After surveying publishers statewide, Bordewyk said only one respondent believed service had improved.

“Everyone else said they’ve gotten worse or remained the same,” he said. “It’s not getting any better.”

The consequences are serious.

“They’re losing subscribers and they’re losing advertisers,” Bordewyk said, adding that as a result, many community newspapers, which are already in a “fragile, precarious condition,” are losing business “because the Postal Service can’t deliver.”

“Years ago, it used to be a problem with out-of-state delivery. Now it’s a problem just getting delivery… within the same community.”

Oversight chair promises action

Rep. Pete Sessions, of Texas, chair of the House subcommittee overseeing USPS, joined virtually and acknowledged nationwide failures.

“The post office is struggling,” Sessions said, noting a $9 billion loss last year.

He criticized past leadership for failing to listen, including former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

“He kind of had his own plan and idea. Part of that plan and idea is something that he did not believe required him to have feedback and to have to let people know what he was doing,” Sessions said.

Sessions responded to this notion, stating that “he [DeJoy] is still a public servant, just as I am…And we work for the people of this country.”

Sessions then pledged immediate involvement in making sure South Dakotans’ voices are also heard.

“I will be coming to your office next week with a personal report to you about the things which I believe will be necessary to address every single issue that you have,” Sessions said to Johnson. “The people of your state are no different than the people of my state district… They're proud Americans.”

Johnson later thanked Sessions, calling his response “remarkable” and “far more than we expected and we’re grateful.”

“You’re on the clock”

As the roundtable discussion concluded, Johnson remarked that “a lot of pieces of truth,” had been shared.

“We have heard that mail is the foundation to commerce. We have heard that this is a prairie fire,” he said. “We've heard that this is unacceptable, and that's all true. We've heard that leadership and accountability matters.”

And with the more than 3,000 personal accounts from South Dakotans during a recent survey on the USPS to be compiled alongside other survey data, a formal report will be presented to USPS leadership and Congressional oversight.

Although Johnson did acknowledge the new Postmaster General David Steiner “has inherited a mess,” since coming into the role in July 2025, he still closed with a direct warning to current USPS leadership.

“You’re on the clock,” Johnson stated. “One year on the job should have been enough to show real and meaningful improvement. And Mr. Steiner, if there’s not meaningful improvement by July of 2026, I’m calling for your resignation.

“We have been patient for years. Things have only gotten worse,” Johnson added. “Now we're ramming it up a little bit, and we're going to continue that because we know that South Dakota deserves better.”