Pappas Provisions to Strengthen Postal Service Pass House of Representatives

Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01), a founding member of the Congressional Postal Service Caucus, announced that three of his provisions to strengthen the United States Postal Service (USPS) passed the House of Representatives as part of the Fiscal Year 2026 Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) report. The language would address top issues impacting mail delivery for rural communities, including USPS plans to limit the number of times mail is picked up from rural post offices, to consolidate processing facilities, and to close local post offices. 

“The U.S. Postal Service provides an essential public service, and chronic mail delays impact everything from people’s health to the success of our small businesses,” said Congressman Pappas. “USPS must improve service, not make it worse. I fought for these provisions to prevent harmful facility downsizing and improve and safeguard mail service for communities across New Hampshire, and I’m glad that they have passed the House. I’ll continue to support efforts that strengthen mail service and delivery.”

Specifically, Pappas’s provisions that passed in the FSGG report are: 

• A recommendation that the USPS reevaluate its Regional Transportation Optimization (RTO) plan to ensure that rural Americans do not experience further mail delays. The RTO plan limits the number of times mail is picked up from post offices more than fifty miles away from Regional Processing and Distribution Centers.
• A recommendation that the USPS halt any realignment, consolidation, or partial consolidation of processing or logistics facilities that provide services to postal districts that at any point over the past calendar year have failed to meet 93 percent on-time delivery for two-day single-piece First Class mail and 90.3 percent on-time delivery for three-to-five-day First Class mail.
• A recommendation that the USPS halt any plans to close any post office if that post office serves more than 15,000 people or if there is not another post office within 15 miles. 

In 2024, in response to USPS’s announcement that it planned to close the Manchester USPS Processing and Distribution Center, Pappas worked alongside a bipartisan group of his House colleagues and the New Hampshire delegation to call on then United States Postmaster General Louis DeJoy to reverse course on these plans. Heeding Pappas and his colleagues' calls, USPS paused the implementation of proposed changes to the Manchester facility in May 2024.

Background:

Congressman Pappas is a strong advocate for the U.S. Postal Service and ensuring Granite Staters receive fast, reliable mail and package delivery. He has introduced the bipartisan Postal Suspension Transparency Act to bring transparency to the postal emergency suspension process and ensure access to mail during any temporary post office closure. Earlier this year, he helped introduce the bipartisan Protect Postal Performance Act to prevent USPS from downsizing facilities in underserved areas, provide oversight over modifications to delivery schedules, and increase public transparency. He has also consistently pushed for passage of the bipartisan Porch Pirates Act, which would increase penalties for package theft by so-called ‘porch pirates.’

In the 117th Congress, Pappas helped pass the bipartisan Postal Service Reform Act of 2022, which was signed into law, and made urgently needed reforms to ensure the USPS's longevity.