{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=B8D60F68-B2CA-4D38-9378-5B2344C4B856", "Klobuchar Urges USPS to Change Policy that Hurts Local Newspapers", "2026-05-27", "2026", "2026-05", "Democrat", "Senate", "MN", "Amy Klobuchar", "K000367", "www.klobuchar.senate.gov", "klobuchar", "https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is calling on the United States Postal Service (USPS) Postmaster General David Steiner to reconsider their recent policy changes that plan to lower service standards and eliminate end-of-day mail collection at most of the nation\u2019s post offices, particularly in rural areas, disrupting service for local newspapers. For example, due to this policy change, the Kittson County Enterprise and Northeastern Minnesota\u2019s Timberjay newspapers expect some customers will have their papers delayed at least one additional day due to this policy change.\n\n\u201cI write to express concern about the impacts of the United States Postal Service\u2019s (USPS) recent policy changes on local newspapers and their subscribers,\u201d wrote Klobuchar. \u201cThe Postal Service\u2019s Regional Transportation Optimization (RTO) plan lowers service standards and eliminates end-of-day mail collection at most of the nation\u2019s post offices, particularly in rural areas.\u201d\n\n\u201cLocal newspapers are already facing an existential crisis with ad revenues plummeting, newspapers closing, and many rural communities becoming 'news deserts' without access to local reporting. Minnesotans depend on local newspapers not only to find out the weather forecast or who won the big high school sports game, but also to keep them well-informed about local issues and hold local government officials accountable,\u201d Klobuchar continued. \u201cThe United States Postal Service should be helping these local newspapers reach their communities, not making it more difficult for them to do their critical work.\u201d\n\nThe full letter is available here and below.\n\nDear Mr. Steiner:\n\nI write to express concern about the impacts of the United States Postal Service\u2019s (USPS) recent policy changes on local newspapers and their subscribers.\n\nThe Postal Service\u2019s Regional Transportation Optimization (RTO) plan lowers service standards and eliminates end-of-day mail collection at most of the nation\u2019s post offices, particularly in rural areas. In January 2025, the Postal Regulatory Commission issued an advisory opinion raising serious concerns about the plan\u2019s negative impacts on rural communities while slowing mail delivery and failing to save costs. Despite the advisory opinion and opposition from postal workers and customers, USPS has continued to implement the policy which has resulted in disrupted service for local newspapers in Minnesota, especially those serving rural communities.\n\nLocal newspapers are already facing an existential crisis with ad revenues plummeting, newspapers closing, and many rural communities becoming \u201cnews deserts\u201d' without access to local reporting. Minnesotans depend on local newspapers not only to find out the weather forecast or who won the big high school sports game, but also to keep them well-informed about local issues and hold local government officials accountable. The Postal Service\u2019s Regional Transportation Optimization plan \u2014 on top of its policy changes and rate hikes in recent years \u2014 has real impacts on local newspapers delivery, and local journalism and their subscribers are already paying the price. The United States Postal Service should be helping these local newspapers reach their communities, not making it more difficult for them to do their critical work.\n\nI urge you to address these burdens on local newspapers and ensure that the United States Postal Service is a viable, affordable delivery service for independent newspaper distribution so that the local newspapers that rely on the postal service can continue to serve their communities.\n\n###", 1, "2026-05-28T06:29:45Z", "2026-05-28T06:31:18Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=B8D60F68-B2CA-4D38-9378-5B2344C4B856"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.769260037690401, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}