While the bulk of House Democrats were speaking on the Capitol steps on Friday to express their opposition to the GOP-backed measure to avoid a government shutdown, a bipartisan quintet of lawmakers gathered a couple yards away to launch a new caucus dedicated to stopping certain U.S. Postal Service reforms, improving on-time mail delivery rates and supporting the postal workforce.
“It’s a definite sign that in a time of great division here in Congress and in this country that so many people, Republican and Democrat, agree on the importance of keeping the Postal Service strong and making sure that the service remains a blessing,” said Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., one of the members of the Congressional Postal Service Caucus.
Lynch was joined by caucus co-chairs Reps. Chris Pappas, D-N.H.; Nikki Budzinski, D-Ill.; Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y.; and Jack Bergman, R-Mich., alongside newly elected Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va.
Several of the speakers criticized planned closures of mail sorting facilities in their districts, which are part of the Delivering for America modernization plan that was spearheaded by former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. The reform plan has tasked the postal agency with setting up 60 centralized processing and distribution centers that DeJoy argued would provide for more effective delivery.