Schmitt demands answers to US passport backlog

There’s a current delay in obtaining U-S passports. 

The U-S State Department’s website lists the current processing time to be 10 to 13 weeks for a regular application, and 7 to 9 weeks for an expedited one, which costs an extra 60 dollars. 

But several media outlets report some people waited four months before receiving their passports. 

Freshman U-S Senator Eric Schmitt says he’s received numerous complaints from Missouri residents trying to get passports. 

He cited one instance where someone was forced to cancel an international flight because he received no response from the State Department to his expedited passport renewal application. 

Schmitt has sent a letter to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken demanding answers.  

The State Department’s website says they’re in the process of “aggressively recruiting and hiring” at passport centers across the country.