Vermont Lawmakers Press USPS Over Service Delays and Staffing Gaps

The delegation said it expects clear answers soon as Vermont residents continue to face uneven service.

Vermont’s congressional delegation says it has collected more than 2,000 complaints this year from residents frustrated with postal service problems, and it is demanding answers from Postmaster General David Steiner. Sen. Peter Welch, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Becca Balint sent a letter Friday outlining concerns about slow delivery, staffing shortages and missed mail, and asked for a response by Sept. 1.

The lawmakers pointed to reports from across the state describing households that are only seeing mail one or two days a week. They said the disruptions have led to lost paperwork, delayed prescriptions and missed birthdays. The letter also said the Vermont Agency of Administration has reported two separate instances in which vehicle titles disappeared in the mail, creating both bureaucratic headaches and potential risks to sensitive personal information.

Welch said in an email that federal USPS leadership is not meeting Vermont’s needs and that the delegation wants to know what the agency is doing to improve service for residents.

Postal officials had not responded to a request for comment by publication time.

The delegation’s questions focus heavily on staffing, especially in the North New England district. The letter says USPS confirmed in January 2026 that Vermont was trailing neighboring states in new hires, and it asks what specific resources have been directed toward improving recruitment. The lawmakers also want to know how the agency plans to deal with ongoing shortages that affect daily delivery.

Mail quality advocate Steve Hutkins, who runs the Save the Post Office blog, said the situation in Vermont fits a wider pattern he has tracked for years. He noted that the Postal Service has struggled nationally to keep temporary workers, who often lack the benefits and stability of career employees. In his view, the difficulty of the work, forced overtime and burnout push many people out quickly, especially in rural areas where carriers travel long routes over rough mountain roads.

Hutkins also said the Postal Service’s own performance figures show that about 84% of first-class letters in the Maine-New Hampshire-Vermont region arrive on time. That is close to the national average, but still below the agency’s target of 90% to 95%. He added that the definition of on-time delivery has been loosened in recent years, changing what the agency counts as success.

Another issue raised in the letter is the handling of packages from Amazon and United Parcel Service. The delegation said some Vermont postal workers have been instructed to focus on those deliveries before regular USPS mail, which could be adding to delays. Hutkins said that concern has surfaced in other parts of the country as well.

The lawmakers also raised the possibility that mail-in ballots could arrive too late to count in November. Under Vermont election rules, ballots must reach local officials by the close of polls on Election Day. Even so, the state has a very low rejection rate for returned mail ballots; the U.S. Election Assistance Commission says only 0.2% were rejected in 2024, including for late arrival.

Hutkins said the Postal Service usually takes special steps to move ballots quickly during election season. Still, he said, national political attacks on mail voting have made the issue more sensitive, especially after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March that would require states to share voter information with USPS in order to use mail-in ballots. That order has been challenged by Democratic states and is now before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The delegation said it expects clear answers soon as Vermont residents continue to face uneven service.