When Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) confronted Postmaster General and CEO David Steiner during a June 24 Senate hearing, Steiner said it was the first time he’d heard about thousands of pieces of mail dumped in St. Louis.
Sen. Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) grills Postmaster General and says he should resign if things don't get better.
— CSPAN (@cspan) June 24, 2026
Hawley: "What's going on in the management of the Postal Service?!? Who works for you?
David Steiner: "640,000 people."
Hawley: "Maybe you want to fire some of them." pic.twitter.com/2EGdQ5h3CW
Steiner runs an agency with roughly 640,000 employees. Letters from Hawley and other Missouri officials had already raised delivery failures. The man at the top still arrived before Congress without an answer.
Hawley then turned to executive pay, saying Steiner received $305,781 in bonus compensation last year and noted that postmasters general collected more than $2 million in bonuses over the previous decade.
Steiner said the Board of Governors controls his compensation, but he wouldn't promise to reject future bonuses while customers wait for missing mail.
The exchange became more insulting when Steiner laughed. He later explained that he was laughing at Hawley's claim that Congress had given USPS everything it requested.
The explanation didn't help much. People watching a hearing about dumped letters, weak service, and executive bonuses weren't likely to appreciate the finer points of the joke.
Hawley followed with a June 30 letter demanding records about the St. Louis incident, possible criminal referrals, delivery standards, employee vacancies, executive compensation, and allegations that workers may have falsely scanned delayed mail as delivered.
The Postmaster General is dodging congressional oversight and refusing to explain why they can’t deliver your mail
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) July 16, 2026
Time to dig deeper: why are they employing a New York consulting firm? pic.twitter.com/gJs0wVutMl
The deadline was July 15. Hawley said his office received nothing.
Postmaster General refuses to provide any documents or answers on his bonuses, his million dollar consulting contracts, or his terrible service in Missouri. He wants to do a photo op instead. No photo ops for bureaucrats until the people of Missouri get ANSWERS pic.twitter.com/vMBBY5PKBV
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) July 15, 2026
His investigation has now expanded to restructuring firm Alvarez & Marsal. Hawley wants to know who hired the firm, how much has been paid, and whether its compensation depends on spending cuts or workforce reductions. From Fox News:
The senator questioned why USPS is paying outside consultants while projecting another multibillion-dollar loss and continuing to award executive bonuses.
"It is surprising to me that as you complain about this monetary crisis, you and other USPS executives continue to rake in annual bonus packages and have found plenty of cash to hire these outside consultants like A&M — all while service declines and far too many Americans are not receiving their mail," Hawley wrote.
The senator questioned why USPS is paying outside consultants while projecting another multibillion-dollar loss and continuing to award executive bonuses.
"It is surprising to me that as you complain about this monetary crisis, you and other USPS executives continue to rake in annual bonus packages and have found plenty of cash to hire these outside consultants like A&M — all while service declines and far too many Americans are not receiving their mail," Hawley wrote.
He's also asking whether consultants have proposed fewer delivery days, rural post office closures, weaker service standards, or cuts affecting postal workers.
USPS has until July 24 to respond.
None of these questions is small; USPS expects an $8.1 billion net loss during fiscal year 2026. Steiner warned Congress in March that the agency could run out of cash within 12 months if nothing changes.
The Postal Service later suspended about $200 million in retirement payments every two weeks to preserve cash, freeing an estimated $2.5 billion during the current fiscal year.
Steiner inherited a damaged organization. Mail volume has collapsed, labor costs remain enormous, and federal rules limit management's options. He didn't create every failure now sitting on his desk.
He accepted the title, authority, salary, and bonus. Responsibility came in the same package.
Congress shouldn't provide another rescue while USPS leadership withholds records about consultants, compensation, rural service, and dumped mail.
Postal carriers and clerks face angry customers every day while senior executives explain why accountability belongs somewhere else.
Hawley is asking for receipts before taxpayers are asked to write another check. Until Steiner produces them, Americans can safely assume one part of the Postal Service still operates with remarkable speed.
And yet?
The bonuses arrived right on schedule.
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