House Republicans give USPS green light for 6-day delivery, pooh-poohing language they passed

Republicans in the House contend that the U.S. Postal Service can proceed with its plan to deliver only packages on Saturdays even if Congress passes legislation that keeps decades-old language saying “Six-day delivery and rural delivery of mail shall continue, at not less than the 1983 level.”

“USPS has the authority to implement the modified Saturday delivery plan under current law and retains that authority if this provision were to be continued in its current form,” Ali Ahmad, a spokesman for Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told Russell Berman and Bernie Becker of The Hill. He called the language "vague" and said USPS would not be eliminating a service day but “altering what products are delivered on that day.”

“The interpretation by the House GOP could set up a showdown with Senate Democratic leaders, who have argued that the legislative language prohibits the cash-strapped agency from limiting letter delivery to five days a week,” the reporters write. It could also set up a court fight, but The Hill notes that USPS "could simply forgo the roughly $100 million in appropriated federal funds" that gives Congress the power to tell it what to do.

The issue could also be addressed in "a broad overhaul of postal operations," the reporters note. Last year the Senate passed a postal reform bill but Issa's committee never acted on it. However, he and Senate negotiators "came close to finishing off a postal deal at the end of last year," The Hill reports.