The small Missouri town of East Lynne is struggling to get their mail, even as the Trump administration mulls privatization.
The Kansas City Star reports most residents in this town of less than 300 do not have mailboxes, but use post office boxes provided for free by the federal government. However, the town’s post office doesn’t have a regular staff member. Postal workers from nearby towns fill the hole by sorting mail into town boxes—and that attention appears to be sporadic.
The Star reports Missouri USPS media contact Tara Jarrett claiming East Lynne post office hours to be 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays. Residents say that’s not the case.
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“We do not have a functional postal service out here,” said East Lynn resident Chad Vaughn. “It’s genuinely insane.”
The office was recently shut down for fire damage and has yet to fully reopen, the Star claims.
“It wasn’t even, like, physical damage, it was just smoke damage. So we’re like, ‘What is the hold up for so long?’” said town resident Jamie Hasenyager. “Then after that, that’s when it seemed like they could never really get a good staffing situation going on, and it’s been a problem ever since.”
U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has served throughout the Biden administration after Trump appointed him in his first term. But DeJoy stepped down in March after agreeing to allow DOGE team members to find “further efficiencies” at USPS. David Steiner, a Waste Management Inc CEO who served also served on the board of USPS competitor FedEx, replaced DeJoy.
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“Steiner didn’t just stroll in from the private sector – he comes straight from one of the Postal Service’s top competitors,” said Brian L. Renfroe, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers. “His selection isn’t just a conflict of interest — it’s an aggressive step toward handing America’s mail system over to corporate interests. Private shippers have been waiting to get USPS out of parcel delivery for years. Steiner’s selection is an open invitation to do just that.”
The Kansas City Star reports Trump discussed privatizing USPS in his first term, but Steiner has claimed he does not believe the postal service should be privatized. Critics say it is difficult for a private business to remain profitable while delivering to the nation’s countless rural areas, like East Lynn.
The state of Missouri voted 58.5 percent to elect Trump last November.
Read the full Kansas City Star report at this link.