Hageman’s Postal Service Investigations Find Denver Mail Being Processed In Cheyenne

Some of Denver’s mail is being processed in Cheyenne because that city’s mail processing facilities are too overwhelmed with mail, according to U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyoming.

The congresswoman has been investigating the U.S. Postal Service lately, and what she’s been finding out doesn’t bode well for future mail deliveries in Wyoming under the agency’s controversial Delivering for America plan.

Launched in 2021, the national plan reorganizes the Postal Service’s transportation and delivery networks, aiming to achieve break-even operating performance for the agency, which has been losing billions of dollars each year.

“Delivering for America is going to have a devastating impact on Wyoming’s Postal Service,” Hageman told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday morning.

“They are essentially taking away our processing and distribution centers, so that most of our mail is going to be processed out of state," she said. "That means, if I send a letter from Cheyenne to Sheridan, it’s going to have to go to Denver first. Or if I send a letter from Sheridan to Evanston, it’s going to have to go to Billings first.”

That will add “days and days” to Wyoming’s internal mail deliveries, Hageman added.

“The implications are huge,” she said. “It’s going to affect everything from our ability to get medications to our election integrity.”

Going Postal On Delivering For America

Wyoming’s Congressional Delegation has been united in opposing Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s Delivering for America Plan, introducing a measure in April to prevent USPS from removing all of a state’s major processing facilities.

Known as the POSTAL Act, their proposed bill didn’t make it through the legislature its first time around, so the delegation has decided to try, try again, reintroducing the Act today.

“It is common sense for every state to have at least one sorting facility, to ensure efficient and timely in-state mail delivery,” U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyoming, said in an email to Cowboy State Daily.

“I am proud to champion this commonsense mail policy for rural communities, so every American, regardless of ZIP Code can rely on USPS once again," Lummis said.

U.S. Sen. John Barrasso, meanwhile, said he will continue to fight for a reliable and timely postal service.

“The USPS is a lifeline in rural states like Wyoming,” he said. “Keeping a processing and distribution center in Wyoming will help prevent delays and keep mail operations running smoothly across our state.”

Hageman said every state should be entitled to have at least one processing and distribution center, to ensure timely, cost-effective mail service. Wyoming residents have told Hageman how concerned they are about the impact of Delivering for America on Wyoming — concerns that are echoed in a recent advisory opinion from USPS regulator, the Postal Regulatory Commission. 

“The Postal Regulatory Commission has found Postmaster General DeJoy’s plan to move processing out of state will lead to substantial delays and undermine reliable mail service for rural communities,” Hageman said.

“For many Wyomingites, USPS is vital for everything, from healthcare access to ensuring election integrity. This bill protects Cheyenne and Casper’s P&DC status and safeguards Wyoming’s postal infrastructure," she said.

Cowboy State Daily reached out to the U.S. Postal Service for a response to Hageman’s criticism, but had not received a response as of the time of this article’s posting.

Lack Of Transparency

Separately, Hageman has also introduced legislation in the U.S. House that would require USPS to act with more transparency in the future when it’s making sweeping changes to its systems.

The Instituting Notification Formalities on Reorganizing Mail or INFORM Act would require USPS to post physical notices in affected post offices whenever it’s making a change that triggers an advisory opinion from its regulator, the Postal Regulatory Commission.

Statutes require that advisory opinion whenever a change will affect all or substantially all of the nation’s mail delivery. 

Hageman is bringing the bill over frustrations she and other residents have had with a lack of transparency in the roll-out of Delivering for America. Many people were unaware of the changes being made, and some were even shut out of public forums about the measure, because of deadlines that weren’t clear.

“This was intentional,” Hageman said. “How this was handled, in my opinion, was designed to minimize public opposition. So, I think the entire process was broken. And it’s incredibly unfortunate for a state like Wyoming, because we’re probably going to get hit the hardest, being the least populated and most rural state.”

Hageman added that she’s seen up close and personal just how important mail delivery is to rural constituents.

“My mom is 101 years old, and she still sends letters to people and has been using the Postal Service for 90 years,” Hageman said. “And then here we are, when we should be advancing in our technology and our abilities to provide these services, and (instead) we are regressing.”

Here We Go With Pingpong Mail Again

Wyoming and South Dakota are two of the states that will be hit hardest by the changes proposed in Delivering for America. Neither state has enough population to qualify for one of Delivering For America’s 60 Regional Processing and Distribution Centers, according to the Postal Regulatory Commission’s assessment of the plan. 

A map in the advisory opinion also suggests no areas in either state will qualify for next-day service. 

Yet, Delivering for America’s cost-benefit analysis does not compare and contrast the relative costs of having a Regional Processing and Distribution Center in those states with the costs of having no originating processing capabilities at all.

“The Postal Service does not use historical mail processing costs or productivities in determining where to locate facilities,” the Postal Regulatory Commission added in the opinion. “In fact, the Postal Service has not developed any comprehensive model that includes mail processing costs or productivities.”

Hageman, in her review of the PRC opinion, found instances where Wyoming mail will be pingponging around to quite a few places before getting where it’s going. Cowboy State Daily has already written about the sometimes torturous routes Wyoming mail has been following. USPS has characterized those as flukes, or one-off mistakes, but Hageman’s review reveals it will become routine for some Wyoming mail.

“One glaring example from the Advisory Opinion reveals that mail sent from central to western Wyoming would be diverted through four processing facilities in three different states, causing substantial delays,” she said. “When mail service is disrupted, USPS customers — who rely on it for everything from prescription medication to business operations — deserve clear and timely notice.”

INFORM, Hageman added, will help ensure Americans aren’t blindsided by future reforms, and have an adequate opportunity to share how changes will affect them.

Late Ballots Are Real

Election integrity is another big issue Hageman has with the Delivering for America Plan in Wyoming. 

That’s something that’s been top of mind for Secretary of State Chuck Gray, as well, who has been vocal in criticizing a plan he believes is going to result in delayed delivery of absentee election ballots.

USPS officials have downplayed the chances of late absentee ballot delivery and said that they’ve stressed to postal customers that they should allow at least seven days for delivery.

Hageman’s inquiries, however, have uncovered information that seems to support Gray’s contention that Delivering for America could indeed disenfranchise some of Wyoming’s voters.

“In Utah last year, during the primary, people who mailed in their ballots, some of those never made it back in time to be counted,” Hageman said. 

Gray told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday that information doesn’t surprise him. It’s exactly what he’s been repeatedly warning the USPS about all along.

“I view these related and disturbing efforts to move mail processing outside the state of Wyoming as detrimental to Wyoming elections and the people of Wyoming,” Gray told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday. “The USPS’s proposal will delay mail delivery, which is problematic for so many reasons, including from an election administration perspective.”

Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.