The
Wireless Festival has been canceled after Kanye West was blocked from
traveling to the United Kingdom amid backlash over his previous
antisemitic remarks.
Britain’s Home Office told
the BBC on Tuesday that the rapper had made an application to travel to
the U.K. via an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA). It added that
his application had been rejected because his presence would not be conducive to the public good.
Later
on Tuesday, a spokesman for the festival announced that the event had
been canceled, saying that “antisemitism in all its forms is abhorrent.”
[. . .]
The
Wireless Festival said on Tuesday that it recognized the “real and
personal impact these issues have had,” and said ticket holders would be
refunded.
“As with every Wireless Festival,
multiple stakeholders were consulted in advance of booking Ye and no
concerns were highlighted at the time,” it said.
“As
Ye said today, he acknowledges that words alone are not enough, and in
spite of this still hopes to be given the opportunity to begin a
conversation with the Jewish community in the U.K.”
[. . .]
Phil
Rosenberg, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said
in a statement on Tuesday: “It has been less than a year since Kanye
West released a song entitled ‘Heil Hitler,’ the culmination of three
years of appalling antisemitism. He also made a number of deeply
offensive comments about the Black community, saying that the 400-year
experience of slavery was ‘like a choice.’
“Even
while claiming remorse today, his latest album includes a track first
released last year with the abhorrent title ‘Gas Chamber.’ The Jewish
community will want to see genuine remorse and change before believing
that the appropriate place to test this sincerity is on the main stage
at the Wireless Festival.
“As such, we are
willing to meet Kanye West as part of his journey of healing, but only
after he agrees not to play the Wireless Festival this year.”
Siblings
Wendell and Whitney Cole became fans of Kanye West, the artist who now
goes by Ye, when they were in middle school. They went to sleep to the
sounds of the album “Graduation” and woke up to it before school.
Roughly
two decades later, the siblings flew from New York to Los Angeles to
attend Ye’s first U.S. stadium show in more than four years, as he
attempts a mainstream redemption from past antisemitic and racist
statements. Whitney isn’t such a die-hard fan anymore, but bought
birthday tickets for her brother, who still connects with the art, if
not the artist.
“Listening to his music builds my confidence,” Wendell said.
The
Coles represent a range of current and former devotees Ye needs to keep
to make his attempted comeback a reality. In January, he took out a
full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal to apologize for offensive
statements.
Those comments included a
social-media post threatening “death con 3” on Jewish people. They
resulted in Adidas ending a partnership with the rapper and talent
agency CAA dropping him as a client in 2022. Last year, he released a
song that glorified Adolf Hitler.
Ye
put out his 12th solo album, “Bully,” late last month, which arrived at
No. 2 on the Billboard chart. He was kept out of the top spot by the
K-Pop group BTS, back with its first studio album since 2020.
He
has also scheduled a series of international live shows this year,
including New Delhi, Istanbul and Madrid. After the rapper was announced
as the headliner of a hip-hop festival in London scheduled for July,
the city’s mayor and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer were among those
who criticized his selection. PepsiCo pulled its sponsorship of the
festival on Sunday and other brands followed suit.
I
think we all saw this coming and are not at all surprised. You can't
take out an ad in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL and pretend that wipes
everything away. It doesn't. And no one needs Kanye stirring up hate.
Other countries have every right to say, "No, we're not having hate
rallies passed off as concerts." I don't see this as a free speech
issue because this is not political speech. This is not his problems,
for example, with a country. This is him pilling hate onto a group of
people. If he has changed in recent months, he should have no problem
establishing that over time.
The
start of Lent prompted U2 to unleash “Days of Ash” on Ash Wednesday, a
five-song EP that pulsated with frustration and anger at the world.
Six
weeks later, the band surprised fans again with “Easter Lily,” a sextet
of new songs of “faith, hope and love,” as Bono says in a companion
issue of U2's digital e-zine “Propaganda," available online.
The
EP arrived on Good Friday, an apt bookend to “Days of Ash,” with songs
drenched in symbolism. The title "Easter Lily" is a nod to Patti Smith’s
1978 album, “Easter," Bono confirms in the e-zine.
[. . .]
These
songs were birthed for this moment in time, designed for reflection
with themes of friendship, forgiveness of self and finding beauty in the
darkness. It’s also a reminder of what the band does best – nudging us
to think while enveloping us in layers of chiming guitars and the steady
heartbeat of a bass drum.
Melding
literary intellectualism with poetic imagery, Bob Dylan's lyrics have
elevated him to the top of many critics' best songwriters list.
Since
his career launched in the early 1960s, Dylan has penned everything
from powerful protests (“Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Hurricane”) to tender
ballads (“Just Like a Woman” “Lay Lady Lay” and “Sara”) to electrified
smash hits (“Like A Rolling Stone.”)
At 84, the
Minnesota-born legend with the sandpapery rasp is often at the center
of retirement rumors, but he shows no signs of hanging up his troubadour
hat.
Dylan has hit the road almost every year since
1988 on his "Never Ending" tour, with the most recent version, the
"Rough and Rowdy Ways" world wide tour, beginning in November 2021. The
2026 North American leg of the tour will stop in more than 35 cities,
including Columbus.
He and Diana Ross have been touring non-stop. She kicked off her tour in June of 2022.
Will Billy Idol match them? That would take four or five years to know but he is adding dates to his current tour. Mallory Dwortz (M LIVE) reports:
Billy
Idol just unveiled “It’s A Nice Day To...Tour Again!” 2026 U.S. dates
including a September show at Acrisure Amphitheater in Grand Rapids,
Michigan.
Billy Idol is to
continue supporting his latest album, “Dream Into It,” throughout
another round of “It’s A Nice Day To...Tour Again!” dates. The
announcement follows the star’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of
2026 nomination in February and the release of the new feature-length
documentary, “Billy Idol: Should Be Dead,” streaming on Hulu as of March
26.
Following the August 7 start date at The
Pavilion at Montage Mountain in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the “Rebel Yell”
and “White Wedding” rock legend is scheduled to visit Mohegan Sun Arena
in Uncasville Connecticut; Maine Savings Amphitheater in Bangor; BankNH
Pavilion in Gilford, New Hampshire; and more before taking over the
Fontainebleau Las Vegas for a five-night “Hot In The City” residency
during late August and early September.
Wednesday, March 8, 2026. Chump chickens out, people worry about what
Pete Hegseth is whispering to Chump, ICE shoots a man in California,
Bill Gates set to be deposed by Congress in the ongoing Epstein
investigation, and much more.
Archbishop
Paul S. Coakley, leader of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops,
called on President Donald Trump to back off his threats to kill “a
whole civilization,” issuing a rare direct rebuke of Trump as he faces
growing criticism from Catholic leaders over his war against Iran.
Coakley
said Tuesday, “the threat of destroying a whole civilization and the
intentional targeting of civilian infrastructure cannot be morally
justified,” calling on Trump “to step back from the precipice of war.”
If you missed it, last night was supposed to be Convicted Felon Donald Chump bombing Iran into "the stone age."
What happened?
Chump caved.
As Ben notes this morning on MEIDASTOUCH NEWS, Chump decided to go along with Iran's previous ten-point proposal.
President Trump said on Monday that a
cease-fire proposal put forth by mediators between the United States and
Iran was a “significant step,” but he warned that it was “not good
enough” as his deadline of Tuesday evening for a deal approached.
Iran,
for its part, rejected any proposal for a cease-fire, mandating that
any peace plan include a complete end of hostilities. Diplomatic talks
coordinated by Pakistan and other regional countries were continuing,
officials said, even as there appeared to be little agreement on what
any cessation of hostilities would look like.
If
Iran does not agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Tuesday at 8 p.m.
Eastern time, Mr. Trump has threatened to launch a massive attack
targeting bridges, power plants and other civilian facilities that
would, in his words, send Iran “back to the Stone Ages.” But the
president has also extended self-imposed deadlines in recent weeks, and
diplomats around the world were asking whether Mr. Trump would find an
off-ramp again or if he would follow through this time with what could
be a gigantic conflagration.
Today, MORNING JOE talked about Chump's cave.
As the war continues to drag on and as things continue to
get uglier, there's a need on the part of some to rush to Chump's
defense and find an Iago bringing about the downfall of the hero. For
some, the Iago whispering falsehoods to Chump is Pete Hegseth. Zoe Engels (MEDIAITE) reports:
Officials
have accused Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of misleading President
Donald Trump about the Iran War, declaring that “Pete is not speaking
the truth.”
Hegseth has been feverishly
blasting the media’s coverage of the Iran War, saying Americans would
not believe U.S. “success” in the war if they “listened” to the
mainstream media.
On March 6, he told CBS’s 60 Minutes that Iranians are the only people who should be concerned about the war.
“No
one’s putting us in danger,” Hegseth said of the U.S. “We’re putting
the other guys in danger. That’s our job. So, we’re not concerned about
that. We mitigate it as we need to. Our commanders factor all of this,
but the only ones that need to be worried right now are Iranians that
think they’re gonna live.”
In a new report
by The Washington Post, anonymous officials and analysts are quoted as
showing concern about the negative influence that Hegseth’s overzealous,
false optimism is having on Trump.
Hegseth’s
triumphant rhetoric has stood in contrast to that of Gen. Dan Caine,
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who has not suggested U.S. pilots
can use Iranian airspace without concern of enemy threats.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell called scrutiny of Hegseth’s public messaging “lies and propaganda.”
“Secretary
Hegseth has provided the Commander-in-Chief with decisive military
options to achieve our clear, scoped objectives: destroy Iran’s missile
arsenal, annihilate their Navy, destroy their terrorist proxies, and
ensure Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon,” he said in a statement.
“The Washington Post is pushing a fake story of failure.”
White
House spokeswoman Anna Kelly rejected any assertion that Hegseth has
misinformed the president and said Trump always knew the Iranians would
shoot back. “He has always had the full picture of the conflict. Nothing
has surprised him or our military planners, who were prepared for any
possible contingency,” she said.
[. . .]
Another
source of scrutiny emerged March 31, when Hegseth told reporters the
number of Iranian missile and drone launches had fallen to a lower level
than any other 24-hour period since the war began. The figure was
presented as evidence that “relentless” U.S. and Israeli strikes were
degrading Iran’s ability to sustain attacks.
But
administration officials said Hegseth’s claim was incorrect and that
lower 24-hour periods occurred March 14, 15 and 22. “Documents sent
around internally contradict Hegseth’s claims,” one official said.
I
don't doubt that Hegseth is whispering errors and outright lies into
Chump's ear. But that's why Chump chose him. Hegseth wasn't forced off
on Chump -- no, Chump chose him. So he's only whispering to Chump what
Chump wants to hear. Hegseth was a known liar before his confirmation
hearing. Chump knew what he was getting.
Now
he knew JD Vance was a liar as well and he thought he could count on
him. But Chump decided he was wrong there so he has now distanced
himself from Miss Sassy. Matthew Rozsa notes:
President
Donald Trump is degrading his own vice president, JD Vance, over the
latter’s opposition to the former’s Iran war — and it is painfully
obvious to White House observers.
“Nobody in
Mr. Trump’s inner circle was more worried about the prospect of war with
Iran, or did more to try to stop it, than the vice president,” reported The New York Times’ Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman on Tuesday.
“Mr. Vance had built his political career opposing precisely the kind
of military adventurism that was now under serious consideration. He had
described a war with Iran as ‘a huge distraction of resources’ and
massively expensive.’”
The Times elaborated that,
although Vance is not a dove, he privately expressed the belief that a
regime-change war in Iran would end badly for the United States. Because
Trump wished to engage in some military action against Iran, Vance
urged limited action rather than a large-scale campaign, even advocating
for Trump to use “overwhelming force, in the hope of achieving his
objectives quickly.”
Yet the president has
reportedly noticed Vance’s reticence to declare war against Iran and is
politically penalizing his own vice president accordingly, including
through public displays of how he is out of the loop.
So
despite Chump's talking up War Crimes and making outrageous threats, he
didn't go through with it. This time. And this doesn't need to happen
again.
Senator Elizabeth Warren's office issued the following ahead of the deadline Chump had imposed for last night:
Warren: “This is Deranged…Congress Must Pull the Emergency Brake Now”
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) released a new video condemning President Trump’s threat to
wipe out the “whole civilization” of Iran“ and called for Majority
Leader Thune to bring the Senate back into session immediately to vote
to stop Trump’s war.
“Congress needs to pull the emergency brake now. We should be voting
to stop Trump’s war today…Every Republican who refuses to speak out,
every Republican who ducks a question, every Republican who votes to let
this war continue bears a portion of the responsibility for what is
happening in Trump’s war,” said Senator Warren.
Senator Warren highlighted that American families are paying the price for Trump and Hegseth’s war in Iran.
“Gas prices are more than $4 dollars a gallon. Groceries are up. Life
was already unaffordable and now you’re paying for Trump’s war while
our service members fight and die in another forever war halfway around
the world,” she said.
“We don’t know what will happen tonight…But I do know that Congress
has the power and the responsibility to end Trump's war. Enough. Call
your representatives. And tell these Republicans to grow a backbone and
do their damn jobs,” she concluded.
Transcript: Senator Warren on Trump Threatening to Wipe Out the “Whole Civilization” of Iran
Senator Elizabeth Warren: I want to talk directly to
people who are sick with worry that Donald Trump is threatening war
crimes in Iran. In his words, if Iran doesn’t do what he says, their
“whole civilization will die tonight.”
The President of the United States is threatening to bomb innocent
people and civilian infrastructure in Iran. He’s threatening to commit
war crimes. And he is threatening to do it in our names.
This is deranged. And it must stop.
Some say that this is just Trump negotiating.
No. Trump is threatening mass death if he doesn’t get his way. And
it’s further evidence that Trump’s war and Trump himself have spiralled
out of control.
Trump’s guy in charge of the war, Pete Hegseth, is thumping his chest
that the United States has “complete control of Iranian skies” while
our brave pilots get shot down.
And you are paying the price.
Gas prices are more than $4 dollars a gallon. Groceries are up. Life
was already unaffordable and now you’re paying for Trump’s war while our
service members fight and die in another forever war halfway around the
world.
And for what? How is your life better because of Trump’s war?
It is the constitutional responsibility of Congress to not only declare war, but to end war.
Instead, when Republicans have been forced to vote, they have voted repeatedly to continue Trump’s war.
Republican Leader John Thunehune must call the Senate back into
session immediately. And Congress needs to pull the emergency brake NOW.
We should be voting to stop Trump’s war TODAY.
Make no mistake: Every Republican who refuses to speak out, every
Republican who ducks a question, every Republican who votes to let this
war continue bears a portion of the responsibility for what is happening
in Trump’s war.
We don’t know what will happen tonight. Will Trump back down or will he commit war crimes?
But I do know that Congress has the power and the responsibility to
end Trump's war. Enough. Call your representatives. And tell these
Republicans to grow a backbone and do their damn jobs.
"I
believe sanctuary cities is (sic) not lawful," Mullin told Fox News'
Bret Baier. "Some of these cities have international airports. If they
are a sanctuary city, should they really be processing customs into
their city? We need to have a really hard look at that."
"So
you are saying that big cities that are sanctuary cities that have a
big airport, they might lose their customs?" said Baier.
"I'm
going to be forced to make tough decisions," said Mullin, also noting
that this could serve as retaliation for cities whose lawmakers have
obstructed funding for DHS in the standoff over ICE reforms.
Mullin's
threat here was met with instant outrage on social media, with experts
pointing out he doesn't actually have the authority to do this.
The
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in Sacramento was launching a
probe Tuesday after a shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agents and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers near San
Jose, California.
KNTV reported that the Tuesday morning shooting shut down on- and off-ramps on Interstate 5 and Sperry Avenue in Patterson, California. Lauren Mascarenhas (CNN) adds, "Immigration
and Customs Enforcement agents were involved in a shooting that sent
one person to the hospital while they were conducting a targeted traffic
stop in California’s Central Valley, the agency said Tuesday." Uwa Ede-Osifo (GUARDIAN) reports that the man shot was Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez:
Hernandez was hospitalized after the shooting. A spokesperson for the
Stanislaus county sheriff’s office, which has jurisdiction over
Patterson, declined to comment on Hernandez’s condition.
A
Jamaican national arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
after overstaying a tourist visa is disputing the agency’s account of
his case, alleging that his identification documents were taken during
detention and not returned.
Carlton Junior
Burke, 25, said he was taken into custody on October 1, 2025, by federal
agents at his home in Madison, Wisconsin, and transported to a
detention facility, where he claims his passport and driver’s licenses
were collected and not given back.
ICE
has earned a reputation for lying about their actions -- to the public,
to the courts. So I'll give Burke the benefit of the doubt.
After
serving fewer than four months in jail, Epstein was granted a special
arrangement that allowed him to leave custody for up to 16 hours a day,
six days a week, as part of a work release program, allegedly to perform
work at a charitable organization he had just established called the
Florida Science Foundation.
This continued for the next nine months until his release to a year of supervised house arrest in July 2009.
Each
day during his work release, Epstein was transported between the jail
and an office in downtown West Palm Beach by his bodyguard and driver,
Igor Zinoviev. His personal attorney, Darren Indyke, was listed as his
official supervisor at the job. Epstein agreed to hire off-duty
sheriff's deputies to monitor his movements, log visitors and provide
security at his office and home.
According to
documents released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, his SUV
used for these trips was outfitted with a bed. An account given to the
FBI by one woman included the claim that Epstein engaged in sexual
activity with her in the vehicle — while it was parked in the jail lot.
The
woman told the FBI she was a former model from Slovakia who Epstein had
first met when she was a teenager and still in high school. She told
agents she was recruited from Slovakia by Epstein's friend and business
associate Jean-Luc Brunel during her senior year to move to New York
City and pursue a career in modeling. She met Epstein at Brunel's
birthday party at the New York City restaurant Cipriani in 2003.
By
the time of Epstein's incarceration, she had been involved sexually
with him for several years. She was one of four "assistants" granted
immunity in a federal non-prosecution agreement that Epstein received in
exchange for his plea.
King Charles
will be visiting Donald Chump in the US later this month. Survivors of
Jeffrey Epstein have already requested that Charles meet with them. Luke Alsford (METRO) notes:
An
Epstein survivor has said she is prepared to wait outside the White
House to meet with King Charles during his state visit. Rina Oh is
willing to hold a mock tea party with other Epstein victims at the White
House gates, with an empty chair reserved for the Monarch to sit down
and talk with them. The campaigner, who was groomed and sexually
assaulted by Epstein from the age of 21, wants the Royals to prove they
care about survivors by funding their therapy costs. Her calls for the
King to donate to mental health care for Epstein's victims have been
supported by the US's leading anti-trafficking organisation, World
Without Exploitation. Charles will visit the US with Queen Camilla at
the end of April to mark the 250th anniversary of American Independence,
where he will meet President Trump and address Congress.
Democratic
Congressman Ro Khanna, who spearheaded the release of the Epstein
Files, wrote to the King last week asking him to meet the sex offender’s
victims. However, it is understood that Charles will not be able to
meet survivors during the trip. Oh, who lives in New Jersey, said that
would not stop her from visiting Washington DC to see the Monarch. She
told Metro: 'If the King and Queen really do support the victims, then
it would be a nice gesture to meet with some of them. It would show that
he cared. I don't mind gathering a group and going to Washington. We'll
just sit in and have afternoon tea in front of the White House gates.'
Pam Bondi, the former Attorney General, is expected to be deposed by the House Oversight Committee on April 14th. Joe Sommerlad (INDEPENDENT) reports another
Commerce
Secretary Howard Lutnick will testify before the House Oversight
Committee on May 6 regarding his past association with the late
pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, according to reports.
Kentucky
Republican Rep. James Comer, the panel’s chairman, announced on March 3
that Lutnick had “proactively agreed to appear voluntarily” and
applauded his “demonstrated commitment to transparency” but did not at
that stage offer a schedule.
“In
the six to eight steps it takes to get from his house to my house, my
wife and I decided that I will never be in the room with that disgusting
person ever again,” Lutnick told Devine.
However,
the release of the Epstein files by the Department of Justice in late
December and January revealed that the men had remained in contact after
all.
And there's another person who will be deposed by the committee: Bill Gates. Dan Mangan (CNBC) reports:
Microsoft
co-founder Bill Gates will sit for an interview about Jeffrey Epstein
by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on June 10,
according to a person familiar with the situation, who spoke anonymously
because the appearance has not been announced.
Gates
is one of several people who have agreed to be interviewed by the
oversight panel about their dealings with Epstein, the notorious sex
offender who killed himself in a New York jail in August 2019.
Let's wind down with this from Senator Tammy Baldwin's office:
Demand comes after Wisconsinites faced weeks long delays getting mail
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin
(D-WI) demanded answers from Postmaster General David Steiner regarding
long-term mail delays and staffing shortages at post offices across
Wisconsin that are impacting local businesses, newspapers, and Wisconsin
families who rely on USPS for prescriptions, bills, voting, and more.
“I write you today to express my frustrations with ongoing mail
delays and staffing shortages throughout Wisconsin,” wrote Senator
Baldwin.
“This is not the first time I have reached out to the United States
Postal Service (USPS) about mail delivery issues on behalf of my
constituents.”
“Millions of Wisconsinites rely on the Postal Service to stay in
touch with loved ones, pay bills, receive much-needed medications and
cast their vote. We have a duty to find solutions to these difficulties
for the people we serve,” Baldwin concluded.
In the letter, Senator Baldwin raised that Wisconsinites across the
state have faced significant delays in receiving their mail from USPS.
Service delays have been especially pronounced in Brown Deer and
Madison, where residents reported weeks-long delays in mail delivery.
These delays follow USPS’ implementation of the Local Transportation
Optimization (LTO) policy, an overhaul spearheaded by former Postmaster
General Louis DeJoy that has caused widespread service issues in the
years since it was first introduced. A March 2025 report by the USPS
Office of Inspector General found a general decrease in service in
Wisconsin after LTO was implemented.
Senator Baldwin has repeatedly called on the USPS to address rate
hikes and delays Wisconsinites are experiencing. In 2024, Senator
Baldwin led a group of her colleagues in calling out USPS leadership for unsustainable price hikes and poor service. Baldwin also called on
former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to immediately address costly
mail delays suffered by Wisconsin newspapers that rely on the USPS.
In her letter, Senator Baldwin requests written answers to the following questions:
What was the retention rate among pre-career and career USPS
employees from Fiscal Year 2024 to Fiscal Year 2025 in Wisconsin? What
are the nationwide retention rates among pre-career and career USPS
employees from Fiscal Year 2024 to Fiscal Year 2025?
How many USPS employees currently work in Wisconsin? How many open positions does USPS currently have?
Is USPS concerned with staffing shortages and retention rates in
Wisconsin? If so, besides job fairs, what solutions have been
implemented to address staffing challenges in Wisconsin, specifically?
How successful have the USPS-sponsored job fairs been at hiring new
employees in Wisconsin and nationwide? Thus far, have job fairs resulted
in long-term employment for Wisconsinites?
How has the USPS responded to the issues raised in the March 2025 OIG report regarding LTO implementation?
Has the USPS implemented the process to track Local Transportation
Optimization savings as agreed to in the March 2025 USPS OIG Report? If
so, can you provide an explanation of the process and any current
findings?
How will USPS ensure customers are immediately notified of any impacts to service in their area moving forward?
A full version of this letter is available here and below.
Dear Postmaster General Steiner,
I write you today to express my frustrations with ongoing mail delays and staffing shortages throughout Wisconsin.
This is not the first time I have reached out to the United States
Postal Service (USPS) about mail delivery issues on behalf of my
constituents. I frequently urged your predecessor to improve service,
emphasizing that USPS’s transition to the Local Transportation
Optimization policy (LTO) led to a decline in mail delivery reliability
across Wisconsin. This was confirmed by the USPS Office of Inspector
General’s March 2025 Report for the Wisconsin region, which found a
general decrease in service in the state after this disastrous policy
was implemented. The report also found that customers were not notified
of the impacts to service in their areas until after an issue arose or
they directly asked questions. To make matters worse, the supposed cost
savings attributed to the LTO were not even effectively tracked by USPS,
making it difficult to verify whether the policy delivered any
meaningful financial benefit.
Most recently, I have heard from constituents who have endured long
stretches without any mail delivery. In Brown Deer, residents
experienced significant delays and inconsistent service from the Post
Office on Bradley Road. Some reported going weeks at a time without
receiving any mail. I have heard similar stories from my constituents in
Madison, who have seen lengthy mail service delays across the entire
city.
I appreciate that USPS has addressed staffing shortages in these
areas, but the agency must continue to prioritize the hiring and
retention of workers across the state in order to prevent future
staffing issues that contribute to mail delays. Despite my repeated
warnings, it is clear that service issues have not been substantially
addressed.
I request that you provide written answers to the following questions by April 30, 2026:
What was the retention rate among pre-career and career USPS
employees from Fiscal Year 2024 to Fiscal Year 2025 in Wisconsin? What
are the nationwide retention rates among pre-career and career USPS
employees from Fiscal Year 2024 to Fiscal Year 2025?
How many USPS employees currently work in Wisconsin? How many open positions does USPS currently have?
Is USPS concerned with staffing shortages and retention rates in
Wisconsin? If so, besides job fairs, what solutions have been
implemented to address staffing challenges in Wisconsin, specifically?
How successful have the USPS-sponsored job fairs been at hiring new
employees in Wisconsin and nationwide? Thus far, have job fairs resulted
in long-term employment for Wisconsinites?
How has the USPS responded to the issues raised in the March 2025 OIG report regarding LTO implementation?
Has the USPS implemented the process to track Local Transportation
Optimization savings as agreed to in the March 2025 USPS OIG Report? If
so, can you provide an explanation of the process and any current
findings?
How will USPS ensure customers are immediately notified of any impacts to service in their area moving forward?
Millions of Wisconsinites rely on the Postal Service to stay in touch
with loved ones, pay bills, receive much-needed medications and cast
their vote. We have a duty to find solutions to these difficulties for
the people we serve. Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I
look forward to your prompt response.
