White House press secretary Jen Psaki pushed back on concerns over supply chain issues and the possibility that Christmas packages might not arrive on time.
Psaki said that the while the administration was prepared to take steps to address bottlenecks in the process, especially where shipping was concerned, there was no way for the White House to make any guarantees. (RELATED: Reporter: ‘What Do You Make Of These Terrible Polls’ Psaki: ‘People Still Won’t Get Vaccinated’)
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“Based on everything being announced today can this administration guarantee the holiday packages will arrive on time?” one reporter asked.
“We are not the Postal Service, UPS or FedEx. We cannot guarantee,” Psaki replied. “What we do is use every lever at the federal government’s disposal to reduce delays, to ensure that we are addressing bottlenecks in the system including ports and the need for them to be open longer hours so that goods can arrive. And we can continue to press not only workers and unions but also companies to take as many steps as they can to reduce these delays.”
The USPS has announced the dates for guaranteed delivery over the upcoming holidays.
USPS says if customers want their packages to get there on time and ship on the ground, they must mail them by Dec. 15.
First-class packages must be shipped by Dec. 17, and customers must send priority mail by Dec. 18https://t.co/7ALl3XgknV
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) October 13, 2021
According to the USPS, all first-class packages should be shipped by Dec. 17, and priority mail by Dec. 18. Larger packages should be shipped by Dec. 15 if customers want them to arrive on time for Christmas.
And as the Los Angeles Times reported, the White House has already begun to broker deals to keep ports open and running longer hours in order to straighten out some of the issues.
The Port of Los Angeles will operate around the clock as supply chain problems threaten the holiday shopping season.
Administration officials said the plan was brokered by the White House as part of an effort to untangle supply chain problems.https://t.co/X6wZ0AaTKQ
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) October 13, 2021
But anything that needs to ship internationally could pose a larger problem.
The backlogs and delays in international shipping are so severe that a supply chain consultant told the Wall Street Journal this weekend, “If it wasn’t on the water four weeks ago, it’s not going to be here for Christmas.”https://t.co/JFXQMLqPAk pic.twitter.com/MS4AunCS47
— Jim Geraghty (@jimgeraghty) October 12, 2021
According to the Wall Street Journal, one supply chain consultant asserted, “If it wasn’t on the water four weeks ago, it’s not going to be here for Christmas.”