Protect Our Letter Carriers Act

Full Title:
Protect Our Letter Carriers Act of 2025

Summary#

This bill is called the Protect Our Letter Carriers Act of 2025. It would: authorize $1,400,000,000 per year for fiscal years 2026–2030 for the United States Postal Service to install high security collection boxes and replace older universal mailbox (arrow) keys with electronic versions; require the Attorney General to appoint, in each federal judicial district, an assistant U.S. attorney who will coordinate and supervise investigations and prosecutions of certain postal-related offenses (listing Chapter 83 of title 18, sections 2115–2117 of title 18, and offenses against a carrier under section 111 of title 18), with a one-year deadline for the Attorney General to comply; and direct the U.S. Sentencing Commission to amend sentencing guidelines so that assault or robbery of a postal employee (including dangerous conduct during immediate flight) is treated the same as assault of a law enforcement officer. The bill also includes a Sense of Congress stating that postal letter carriers must be protected and that the Attorney General should vigorously prosecute assaults against postal employees.

What it means for you#

  • If you work for the Postal Service, the bill would direct funding for new high-security collection boxes and electronic mailbox keys and would change how some prosecutions and sentencing for assaults or robberies against postal employees are handled.
  • If you use public mailboxes, the bill would authorize replacement or upgrade of collection boxes and key systems, which could change how some mailbox access and maintenance are handled.
  • For local U.S. attorneys and the Department of Justice, the bill would require a named assistant U.S. attorney in each district to coordinate investigations and prosecutions of covered postal offenses.

Expenses#

The bill authorizes $1,400,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030 to the United States Postal Service for the specific upgrades named (high security collection boxes and electronic versions of the universal mailbox key). No publicly available information on total projected costs beyond those yearly authorization amounts or on offsets, funding sources, or a Congressional Budget Office score is provided in the bill text and metadata.

Proponents' View#

The bill text expresses that Congress believes postal letter carriers must be protected and that the Attorney General should vigorously prosecute assaults against postal employees. The bill’s provisions aim to fund physical security upgrades, improve key systems, coordinate federal prosecution of postal offenses, and align sentencing treatment for assaults on postal employees with that for assaults on law enforcement officers.

Opponents' View#

No publicly available information.