The lawsuits contend that purchases of thousands of fossil fuel-powered delivery vehicles will cause environmental harm for decades to come. The Postal Service says it conducted a thorough review.
Starting next month, more than 30% of first-class packages will be considered on time if they arrive within four or five days, as the Postal Service eases its standards for delivery times.
The embattled USPS has been losing billions of dollars annually in recent years. The bill, which focuses on cutting health care costs, would result in $50 billion in savings over 10 years.
To all those holiday present procrastinators out there (you know who you are): Be sure to ship that holiday gift sooner rather than later to get those presents to their destination before December 25.
The changes to the Postal Service include slower delivery of some first-class mail and higher holiday-period pricing — changes the states want regulators to review.
Some of the changes will result in increased transit times for cross-country and other long-distance deliveries. The price increases will not affect shipping for international products.
Most post offices that don't meet their costs are in rural areas, but Congress has blocked them from being closed. Democrats like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez say postal banking might offer a solution.
"We're really busy. It's been unbearable," sighed Manny Huenchunir, a Postal Service truck driver who was unloading and reloading crates of mail at a post office outside Boston on Tuesday night.
Election experts say there is no longer enough time to ensure ballots sent through the mail will be delivered in time. They're encouraging voters to deliver their ballots by hand or vote in person.
The bill, which provides $25 billion in aid, was passed in a rare Saturday session and requires the Postal Service to prioritize mail-in ballots this November. It's unlikely to advance in the Senate.
The postmaster general committed to delivering the nation's election mail securely, at his first public remarks since stopping the operational changes he instituted this summer at the Postal Service.
NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks to Winifred Gallagher, author of How the Post Office Created America, about political interference in the U.S. Postal Service.
Americans trust the U.S. Postal Service for important mail like credit cards, passports, and even stimulus checks — but concerns over mail-in ballots have been raised as the agency suffers from financial struggles and mail delays. On Second Thought discusses how new developments with the U.S. Postal Service may play into the 2020 election and beyond.