Two top DOGE lawmakers are pushing a bill to reclaim $3 billion from Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. The money was meant to create an electric vehicle (EV) fleet for the USPS.
A South Carolina defense contractor was in charge of the 60,000-vehicle order. But by November, they were "far behind schedule." A Washington Post exposé found fewer than 100 vehicles had been delivered.
Citing the delays, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, are introducing the "Return to Sender Act." Their goal? Take back about 30% of the Inflation Reduction Act’s EV funding.
The plan was for USPS to get 50,000 EV delivery trucks from defense contractor Oshkosh within three years. By November, only 93 had been made, according to the Post.
One production insider didn’t mince words. "Bottom line [is] we don’t know how to build a damn truck," they told the outlet.
Adding to the controversy, the Post found USPS agreed to pay more for the trucks after Oshkosh raised its prices. That seemed to push Ernst and Cloud to act.
The final deal set the cost at $77,692 per EV truck for about 28,000 vehicles. The company stayed silent on the exposé but told investors in October, "Oshkosh is really happy where we are" on the project.
"Biden’s EV postal fleet is lost in the mail," Ernst said. "The order needs to be canceled, and the unspent money returned to sender—the taxpayers."
Cloud blasted the Inflation Reduction Act, saying it "funneled billions into a failed USPS EV project that has delivered nothing but delays, defective trucks, and skyrocketing costs."
"Three years later, taxpayers are still waiting while the Postal Service refuses to provide basic transparency on where the money went," he said. "The Return to Sender Act takes back the $3 billion in taxpayer money that has been wasted."
In February, Ernst also targeted the USPS EV project in her Billion Dollar Boondoggle Act. That bill focuses on government projects that cost over a billion dollars and are years behind schedule.
The new bill’s text is short and to the point. It directs that "unobligated balances" from the Inflation Reduction Act be rescinded and the related sections repealed.
USPS defended its EV project. A spokesperson told Fox News Digital that fleet modernization is a "core component" of their plan.
Kim Frum, USPS public relations rep, insisted the agency committed to buying the "most environmentally sustainable vehicles" possible. She added that the delivery schedule remains on track.