After promising a fleet of tens of thousands of electric vehicles for the United States Postal Service, President Biden's 2022 Inflation Reduction Act has spent $1.7 billion of taxpayer money and has procured only 250 electric mail trucks.
"The Biden administration’s so-called 'Inflation Reduction Act' funneled billions into a failed USPS EV project that has delivered nothing but delays, defective trucks, and skyrocketing costs," said Representative Michael Cloud (R-Texas). "Three years later, taxpayers are still waiting while the Postal Service refuses to provide basic transparency on where the money went. The 'Return to Sender Act' takes back the $3 billion in taxpayer money that has been wasted in this project."
Former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy who signed off on the Oshkosh contract left his position earlier this year. He was succeeded by David Steiner whose new position became official on Monday.
DeJoy brushed off the contract failure by saying that he was "in the parcel delivery business, not the vehicle manufacturing business," according to The New York Post.
U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Cloud introduced the "Return to Sender Act" back in March 2025, in an attempt to terminate the $3 billion contract intended to build an electric vehicle fleet for the U.S. Postal Service. The funding for these vehicles came partially from the "Inflation Reduction Act" authorized by President Biden in 2022.
While the order was for 35,000 trucks, Wisconsin-based contractor Oshkosh has produced less than 300 of the promised electric vehicles after two years.
“Biden’s EV postal fleet is lost in the mail. The order needs to be canceled with the unspent money returned to sender, the taxpayers,” said Ernst. “I am working to cancel the order and return the money to the sender, the American people. The rescissions package is a great start, but Congress must keep its foot on the pedal and make DOGE a lifestyle by stamping out waste like this on a regular basis.”