The U.S. Post Office is ending mail delivery on Saturdays

Question

The claim that the U.S. Postal Service is ending Saturday mail delivery has circulated for years, but it is not true. While the USPS has considered cutting Saturday delivery in the past as a way to reduce financial losses, no proposal to end Saturday delivery has ever been approved by Congress. In fact, federal law currently requires the Postal Service to maintain six-day-a-week delivery for regular mail. Because USPS is regulated by Congress, it cannot make major changes to delivery schedules on its own without legislative approval.

The confusion often comes from budget discussions and headlines about USPS financial struggles. At different points especially around 2013 and again during the COVID-19 pandemic the agency publicly announced it was exploring the idea of eliminating Saturday delivery. These announcements led many people to believe the change was already happening. However, every time the idea has been raised, Congress has passed budget riders that specifically mandate continuation of six-day delivery.

Overall, the claim that USPS is ending Saturday mail delivery is false. There have been discussions about reducing delivery days, but legally, Saturday service is still required and remains in place for all U.S. households.

Answer 1

While there have been numerous discussions over the years about the potential to move from a six-day work week to a five-day work week, there has never been any direct action or law that would put it in place. The original article by Jacksonville.com emphasizes reasons as to why workers and the public want this change, one of the reasons being to promote financial stability within USPS. However, according to the 2022 Postal Service Reform Act , USPS work weeks are to continue over a six-day work period, meaning that Saturdays are still in service, described by Office of Inspector General. Ultimately, while the idea have a shorter work week has been explored, it has never been enacted by the US government.