Budzinski and Postal Caucus Co-Chairs Outline Priorities for Strengthening the U.S. Postal Service

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Congressional Postal Service Caucus Co-Chairs Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Congressman Jack Bergman (MI-01), Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01), and Congressman Andrew Garbarino (NY-02) sent a letter to the newly appointed Postmaster General, David Steiner, outlining their top priorities for improving the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and addressing concerns with previous reform plans.

In their letter, the Co-Chairs express concern over aspects of the Delivering for America (DFA) and Regional Transportation Optimization (RTO) plans, urging a careful reassessment to ensure postal operations continue to meet the needs of Americans nationwide.

The Members wrote, "While we fully support modernization efforts within the Postal Service, these changes must not come at the expense of postal employees or the millions of Americans who rely on reliable, on-time delivery every day," the members wrote. "We respectfully urge you to temporarily pause any implementation of the Delivering for America plan until it can be reworked to ensure that no customers experience slower delivery as a result."

The lawmakers also emphasized the importance of preserving the Universal Service Obligation (USO), a cornerstone of the Postal Service's mission.

"We urge you to ensure the Universal Service Obligation is fully protected," they continued. "The USO guarantees that every American, regardless of where they live, can send and receive mail at a uniform price. Preserving this commitment is essential to the long-term success and trust in the Postal Service."

The full text of the letter is HERE and below:

Postmaster General David P. Steiner

USPS - Headquarters

475 L'Enfant Plaza, SW

Washington, DC 20260

Postmaster General Steiner

As Co-Chairs of the Congressional Postal Service Caucus, we are writing to congratulate you on taking office as the 76th Postmaster General of the United States. We trust you know that your appointment comes at a pivotal time when it is essential to prioritize improving on-time delivery rates for customers to maintain trust and faith in the Postal Service.

As former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy worked to implement his "Delivering for America" (DFA) plan, we unfortunately saw steady declines in on-time delivery performance across the country. In the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25), the Postal Service's on-time delivery for three-to five-day delivery fell to just 66.8 percent nationally, with some regions as low as 45 percent. This falls well short of the Postal Service's current on-time delivery goal of 80 percent - and even further below its previous target of 90.3 percent, which remained in place until the former Postmaster General lowered the FY25 benchmark last year. This drastic decline in on-time delivery means our constituents are not receiving essential items, like paychecks, bills, food, and even medicine, in a timely manner.

A key part of the DFA plan was the proposed closure and consolidation of dozens of Processing and Distribution Centers (P&DCs) across the country. These proposals would not only jeopardize the jobs of thousands of Postal Service employees, but also significantly extend the distance mail must travel-often by hundreds of miles-before reaching its destination. When the Postal Service first attempted to make these changes in the Richmond, Virginia, region, a United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPSOIG) report found that the consolidations in the region resulted in "a decrease in service performance for the Richmond region." This report also found that these changes cost the Postal Service additional transportation and labor costs, totaling over $8 million.

While we fully support Postal Service modernization efforts, it is essential that these changes are not made on the backs of Postal Service employees or the millions of Americans who rely on the Postal Service for on-time delivery every day. As such, we ask that as you begin your tenure as Postmaster General, you continue to review the Delivering for America plan and ensure it will not result in slower delivery for customers because of its implementation.

Additionally, we wanted to bring to your attention the implementation of the Regional Transportation Optimization (RTO) plan, which former Postmaster General DeJoy introduced last year. Under this plan, the Postal Service would limit pickups from Post Offices more than 50 miles away from larger Regional Processing and Distribution Centers (RP&DCs). These changes would create additional delays for outgoing mail from predominantly rural areas.

When a pilot version of this program was tested in Wisconsin last year, the USPS OIG found that the changes resulted in a "decrease in service" in which "rural communities were more significantly impacted." A second report from the USPS OIG in May 2025 found that "challenges implementing major changes to the Postal Service network over the last few years have negatively impacted service performance." We believe it is essential that the nationwide implementation of the RTO plan must also be paused until it can be updated to ensure that rural customers, like the ones we represent, are not going to experience further delays as a result of its implementation.

Finally, we are writing to ask if you work to ensure the Universal Service Obligation (USO) is protected. The USO ensures that Americans can get their mail delivered for the same price no matter where they live across the country. The preservation of this commitment is key to the future success of the Postal Service. As Members of Congress, we hope to continue to work with you to protect the USO and preserve the Postal Service as an independent agency of the federal government.

We appreciate you taking these suggestions into consideration as you begin your tenure as Postmaster General. As chairs of the Postal Service Caucus, we look forward to working with you and your team to protect the Postal Service's employees and improve on-time delivery rates across the nation. Thank you for your service and we wish you the best of luck in this critically important role.

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