Reps. Nikki Budzinski and Jack Bergman Establish Congressional Postal Service Caucus
Reps. Nikki Budzinski and Jack Bergman Establish Congressional Postal Service Caucus
Budzinski Guest on NAPS Chat
Over the summer, several members of Congress decided it was essential to create a bipartisan Congressional Postal Service Caucus. With a core group of four House members, formation of the caucus was announced mid-summer. Its recruitment drive commenced in August and was in full swing by early September.
The caucus’ leadership includes Co-Chairs Reps. Nikki Budzinski (D-IL) and Jack Bergman (R-MI) and original members Reps. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) and Chris Pappas (D-NH). Unlike a formal congressional committee, the caucus membership can reflect geographic and political diversity and focus on postal oversight and legislative advocacy.
However, a caucus does have funding to support staff, so it depends on individual members of Congress to assign staff to perform caucus functions. In addition, a caucus does not have the authority to approve and send legislation to the floor of Congress. Nevertheless, a caucus can serve as a mechanism to shine light on specific issues, testify before committees and draft legislation.
In early September, NAPS Director of Legislative & Political Affairs Bob Levi hosted Congressional Postal Caucus Co-Chair Budzinski on NAPS Chat, the NAPS-sponsored podcast (September 4 Episode).
Budzinski expressed the widespread view among her congressional colleagues that the Postal Service must restore the high-quality performance to which their constituents have grown accustomed. Slower delivery speed, particularly to rural areas, has been a prevalent critique over the past few years.
The congresswoman discussed how an August 2025 report by the renowned Pew Research Center validates what Congress is hearing back home. The Pew Center reported the Postal Service fell from being the top-rated federal agency in 2019 to number three in 2025. In 2019, 90% of Americans rated the Postal Service favorably; in 2025, the percentage fell to 69%. Budzinski believes a major part of improving postal performance is restoring delivery speed. This would be a huge step to returning the Postal Service to the top of the list and improving its favorability.
During the podcast, Budzinski indicated the caucus will direct its attention to problems that have characterized implementation of the Postal Service’s 10-year plan, “Delivering for America.” She mentioned there is congressional consensus that the reorganization and consolidation of postal processing and delivery facilities, as well as the Regional Transportation Optimization initiative, has had a negative impact on postal performance.
Budzinski believes the postal caucus will play a valuable role in working with the Postal Service, its stakeholders and House and Senate committees with jurisdiction over the Postal Service to improve performance.
She pointed out that one of the challenges in creating the caucus is to ensure its broad, diverse and bipartisan composition. So, she and Bergman have embarked on a drive to recruit members of both parties from different committees that may have postal “touchpoints.”
For example, members of the Veterans Affairs Committee will be interested in the Postal Service being one of the largest employers of veterans and the Veterans Health Administration’s reliance on mail-order prescriptions. Ways and Means Committee members will be interested in the delivery of Social Security checks to their constituents. Homeland Security Committee members will be interested in Postal Service logistics capabilities in the event of a natural disaster of crisis. And members of the Small Business Committee will be interested in the reliance small and family-owned businesses have on the Postal Service to deliver their products.
Budzinski expressed her appreciation to NAPS for working with her and caucus members as the panel gets off the ground. She said she looks forward to continue collaborating with NAPS regarding the future of the Postal Service.