Sen Josh Hawley proposes bill to block USPS bonuses over delivery failures
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FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is proposing legislation that would cut bonuses to U.S. Postal Service executives, citing years of staggering financial losses the agency has suffered and its overall on-time delivery record.
Hawley, who launched an investigation into the Postal Service’s service records, announced the “No Bonuses for Bad Service Act” in a letter obtained by Fox News Digital.
The bill would prohibit the USPS Board of Governors from approving any additional compensation for the Postmaster General and Deputy Postmaster General for a fiscal year in which the agency does not meet or exceed a 95% on-time delivery rate for all postal products.
“Even though Missourians don’t get their mail on time, the Postmaster General gets a hefty bonus every year,” Hawley wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital. “I’m Not Banning Bonuses for Poor Service to ensure postal service leaders don’t get bonuses while Americans’ mail goes undelivered. It’s time for the Postmaster General to do his job and put Americans first.”
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Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., appears at a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on July 16, 2026. Hawley wants to shut down bonuses given to U.S. Postal Service executives, citing the agency’s years of financial losses and on-time delivery performance. (Eric Lee/Getty Images)
Over the last decade, Postmasters General received more than $2 million in additional compensation even as delivery performance declined and budget numbers worsened, according to Hawley’s office.
Reasons given by Hawley for the proposed bill include the agency’s $25 billion financial loss over the past three fiscal years; These losses coincide with an increase in postal rates and a decline in on-time delivery.
In the last three years that Louis DeJoy served as chief executive, the Board of Directors approved more than $567,000 in bonuses, Hawley said. He said current Postmaster General David Steiner, who takes office in July 2025, has already received a $170,000 bonus.
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U.S. Postal Service trucks park outside a post office in Wheeling, Illinois, Jan. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Ha, File)
When Hawley confronted Steiner about additional compensation at a June 24 hearing, Steiner said he did not control the bonus distribution.
“I’m absolutely amazed by that today, general… and frankly, if things don’t get better, you should resign, because you’re not doing the job. You’re leaving your good postal workers out there. You’re hanging them out to dry. They’re not doing anywhere near the job you’re doing. They work their butts off, they get blamed, and you get the bonus. We’ve got a big problem. From what I saw today, you’re part of it,” Hawley said at the time.
Hawley said residents in rural Missouri sometimes wait weeks for their mail. Also, in April, St. A large pile of undelivered mail was found in a vacant lot north of St. Louis.
Postmaster General David Steiner testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee at a hearing on reforming the U.S. Postal Service’s business model June 24 in Washington, D.C. (Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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“The pattern is clear: As service has deteriorated, the Postmaster’s salary has not decreased,” Hawley said.
Hawley had already been investigating the Postal Service and had accused Steiner of ignoring congressional oversight while requesting records regarding the agency’s use of outside restructuring consultants.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the postmaster general’s office for comment.
