McClellan Joins Kaine, Bipartisan Colleagues to Press USPS on Richmond Mail Delays

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan (VA-4) joined U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), Senator Mark R. Warner (D-VA), and a bipartisan group of Virginia lawmakers in pressing the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) on the mail delivery delays and disruptions impacting Virginians in the Richmond region. The letter was also signed by U.S. Representatives Rob Wittman (VA-1), Abigail Spanberger (VA-7), Jen Kiggans (VA-2), and Bob Good (VA-5).

The push follows an alarming report that the Richmond VA Medical Center recently received hundreds of colon cancer test samples via USPS that are unusable because they exceed the 15-day window the samples were valid for. Some samples date as far back as mid-2023. In their letter, the lawmakers requested a briefing with USPS and a tour of the relevant USPS facility to better understand the causes of these unacceptable delays and discuss what is being done to prevent them from happening again.

“We want to be clear; this is unacceptable,” the lawmakers wrote. “These issues with postal delays have caused unnecessary stress and harm for our constituents and suggest to us that the issues in the region are worse than we thought.”

“We are unsatisfied with the level of urgency and responsiveness the agency has demonstrated with the issues we have raised previously, and this must change with this new revelation,” the lawmakers continued. “USPS has recently declined requests for meetings and tours to discuss these issues – Postal Service customers in Central Virginia deserve transparency and explanation, as soon as possible, regarding these issues.”

Full text of the letter is available here.