The Postal Regulatory Commission has requested information from the USPS about the changes made to date. Image: photosince/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffA House committee and postal regulators are keeping up scrutiny of the Postal Service’s “Delivering for America” plan even though the USPS has generally paused further changes to its processing and delivery network under that program at least until January.
The House Appropriations Committee has said it is “is deeply concerned about the potential negative impacts on mail service to the American people, customer satisfaction, and cost overruns.”
The first actions under that plan “have already encountered setbacks, such as reduced mail service performance and unexpected cost overruns,” says a report on the general government spending bill, which the panel recently approved.
“The Committee is concerned with the USPS’s aggressive approach to consolidating processing and distribution centers into local processing centers and the notification and justification provided to customers and postal workers,” it says, encouraging the USPS to halt any further changes where certain performance standards have not been met.
Separately, the Postal Regulatory Commission has requested information from the USPS about the changes made to date and about those continuing in some locations despite the general pause ordered last month in response to concerns from the commission, Congress and postal unions.
“Emerging circumstances and information have reinforced the urgency and importance of understanding the impacts and regulatory implications of DFA before the Postal Service makes further changes that impact service,” it said. “National service performance in 2024 has been at historic lows,” with first class mail for example not meeting its on-time delivery goal since the first week of the fiscal year.
The House report meanwhile further says the committee “continues to remain very concerned about mail theft and violence against mail carriers and other postal employees. The Committee urges the Postal Service to remove restrictions implemented in 2020 preventing Postal Police Officers from fully executing their duty to ensure public safety and mail security, and protect postal assets within the Nation’s mail system, whether on postal property or beyond the perimeter of postal property.”
It expressed a further concern about “the impact of workforce shortages on timely delivery of mail,” and ordered the USPS to report to Congress on “significant barriers to recruitment and retention.”
Several Federal Agencies Disavow Union Contracts, with More Likely to Follow
‘Only High Performers’ Should Receive Awards, Agencies Told
OPM Quietly Ends Its Role in ‘Five Things’ Reporting
COVID Vaccination Data to Be Deleted from Federal Personnel Records
Numbers, Impact of Federal Job Cuts Draw Increasing Scrutiny
OPM Limits Length of Paid Leave in Reorgs—Starting Next Year
See also,
What to Know About the New Federal Application Process
Top 10 Provisions in the Big Beautiful Bill of Interest to Federal Employees
A Pre-RIF Checklist for Every Federal Employee, From a Federal Employment Attorney
Work Longer or Take the FERS Supplement Now: Which is Better?
