Text of Letter (PDF)

BOSTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), along with Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (MA-05) and Rep. Stephen Lynch (MA-08), wrote to United States Postmaster General David Steiner; United States Postal Service (USPS) Senior Vice President of Facilities and Infrastructure Benjamin Kuo; and USPS District Manager for Massachusetts and Rhode Island Carissa Shea, urging them once again to reverse their proposed post office closures in Massachusetts – this time in the city of Watertown, and in the Allston and Fields Corner neighborhoods of Boston. The lawmakers demanded accountability for USPS’ statewide campaign to close post offices and requested adequate public hearings and documentation from postal officials involved in these termination decisions.

In the letter, the lawmakers wrote, “From our experience advocating to keep adequate postal service in Massachusetts, it appears that USPS is engaged in a coordinated campaign to leverage lease renewals and construction projects as excuses to force unwanted and inappropriate closures. USPS fails to negotiate leases on good terms, uses its inability to come to a lease agreement as a pretext to declare an emergency, and then temporarily suspends a post office branch. It then leverages these temporary suspensions into proceedings to permanently shut down the post office location. The result is fewer communities with adequate postal presence, worse postal service, and profoundly negative impacts on residents and businesses who rely on their local post office locations.”

The lawmakers demanded a response to the following requests by October 20, 2026:

1. Find a solution that restores local postal service to Watertown Square and Allston and ceases terminations of the Fields Corner and other post office locations;
2. Provide the congressional offices with a full and updated accounting of all post office locations in Massachusetts;
3. Host true public hearings in the communities impacted by USPS’ termination proposals;
4. Enter into the public record for the Watertown Square and Allston termination proceedings this letter and all letters we and other elected officials have sent to USPS, and all testimony from the Boston City Council’s September 22, 2026 hearing on the Allston Post Office;
5. Provide the congressional offices any and all USPS reports arising out of your facilities search and review of the Watertown Square and Allston post offices.

Text of the letter is available here.

Throughout her time in Congress, Congresswoman Pressley has championed for federal resources to support the United States Postal Service and its employees.

• In October 2024, Rep. Pressley joined the American Postal Workers Union for a rally in Boston to sound the alarm about the USPS substandard performance and service to communities.
• In August 2024, Rep. Pressley joined Senator Markey on a letter urging USPS to re-open postal facilities and improve service, spotlighting a larger statewide problem with postal service in Massachusetts.
• On December 16, 2022, Rep. Pressley joined Reps. Lynch and Raskin in leading their colleagues on a letter urging the extension of COVID-19 workers’ compensation benefits for postal workers.
• On February 25, 2021, Rep. Pressley called for postal banking to advance racial and economic justice during a House Committee on Oversight hearing.
• On February 19, 2021, Rep. Pressley urged President Biden in a letter to replace Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and appoint a diverse United States Postal Service Board of Governors.
• On August 22, 2020, Rep. Pressley delivered remarks on the House floor slamming Republican attacks on the United States Postal Service and shared constituent stories.
• On August 21, 2020, Rep. Pressley and Rep. Payne lead their colleagues in a letter pushing party leadership to stand firm on postal service funding.
• On August 25, 2020, Rep. Pressley questioned Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and the United States Postal Service Board of Governors Chairman Robert Duncan about the harmful impact policy changes at USPS had on the workforce during a House Committee on Oversight hearing.
• On August 6, 2020, Rep. Pressley, and her colleagues sent a letter to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy expressing deep concerns about operational changes at the U.S. Postal Service that could have negative impacts on service standards and cause significant delays in mail delivery.
• On May 29, 2020, Rep. Pressley joined progressive Members of Congress in a letter urging House and Senate leadership to include public banking in COVID-19 response.

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