Psaki says the Biden administration can't 'guarantee' holiday packages will arrive on time because it's 'not the Postal Service'

• Jen Psaki said the administration can't "guarantee" holiday mail will arrive on time this year.
• She said the administration "is not the Postal Service," despite the fact that USPS is a government agency.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Wednesday that the Biden administration can't "guarantee" that holiday mail will arrive on time this year due to coronavirus-related supply chain issues.

Psaki insisted that the administration doesn't have full control over the United States Postal Service, despite the fact that USPS is a federal government agency.

"We are not the Postal Service or UPS or FedEx. We cannot guarantee. What we can do is use every lever at the federal government's disposal to reduce delays, to ensure that we are addressing bottlenecks in the system," she said.

Psaki said the administration will urge ports to operate with longer hours to speed up shipping and would "continue to press" workers, unions, and companies to "take as many steps as they can to reduce these delays."

A spike in demand for goods, COVID-19 restrictions, and worker shortages are among the reasons for the shipping delays.

President Joe Biden is moving to address the pandemic-related global supply chain backlog, which has resulted in good shortages and higher prices. Earlier on Wednesday, Biden met with senior administration officials and industry leaders to discuss how to tackle the problem ahead of the holiday season. In a speech, he announced several steps to mitigate the crisis, including that the Port of Los Angeles will begin operating 24/7, seven days a week to help reduce the backlog, joining the Port of Long Beach, which expanded its operations last month. Those two California ports are "on track to reach new highs in container traffic this year," according to the White House.

Biden also touted his domestic agenda, saying that passing an infrastructure bill would help address supply chain issues.

"In order to be globally competitive, we need to improve our capacity to make things here in America, while also moving finished products across the country and around the world. We need to think big and bold. That's why I'm pushing for a once in a generation investment in our infrastructure and our people," he said.

Biden's legislative priorities have stalled in Congress as lawmakers continue to hammer out two massive separate bills, one targeting infrastructure and the other targeting social policy and climate.