Congress doesn’t quite know.
The House has passed a bill with language echoing current law — “6-day delivery and rural delivery of mail shall continue, at not less than the 1983 level.” When the bill passed, GOP leadership made it clear that — at least in its view — this provision wouldn’t prevent USPS from cutting basic mail (but keeping other services) on Saturdays. After all, if the new provision would bar cuts to Saturday mail, so would the old one.
Then again, the language does sound an awful lot like “thou shalt deliver letters on Saturdays” — and some legislators read it that way. Rather than try to clarify, the Senate is expected to pass the same exact words.
Other lawmakers said Saturday delivery must continue. “The language is clear,” said Rep. Jose Serrano (D., N.Y.). “They can’t put these changes to Saturday mail into effect.”
Ruth Goldway, chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission that oversees postal operations, said the provision in the spending bill would make it hard for the Post Office to implement the Saturday cuts.
This is not helpful, obviously.