S5163-119

Reported

No Bonuses for Bad Service Act

119th Congress Introduced Jul 29, 2026

Summary

What This Bill Does

The No Bonuses for Bad Service Act ties extra compensation for the two highest-ranking United States Postal Service executives to delivery performance. The USPS Board of Governors may not approve a bonus, award, or any monetary compensation above basic pay for the Postmaster General or Deputy Postmaster General for a fiscal year unless the Postal Service meets or exceeds 95 percent on-time delivery for every on-time target set for each market-dominant product category. Failing even one covered category prevents the additional compensation for that year.

The bill also amends the postal annual performance-report provision so the report is submitted to the Postal Regulatory Commission in addition to its existing recipients. The measure does not reduce either executive's basic pay, set postal rates, change delivery standards themselves, or provide a bonus when the threshold is met; it only determines when the Board may approve pay above salary.

Who Benefits and How

Postal customers using market-dominant products, including common mail services, benefit from a financial incentive aimed at consistent on-time performance across every covered category. The Postal Regulatory Commission benefits by receiving the annual performance report directly for oversight. The Board of Governors gains a clear statutory threshold for executive bonus decisions. Members of Congress and the public gain a more transparent link between service outcomes and senior executive rewards.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The Postmaster General and Deputy Postmaster General lose eligibility for bonuses, awards, and other above-basic-pay compensation in a year when any covered delivery target falls below 95 percent. The Board of Governors is barred from approving such compensation and must verify performance across all market-dominant categories. USPS compensation, finance, and performance-measurement staff must align bonus administration with delivery data. USPS reporting staff must ensure the annual performance report is also submitted to the Postal Regulatory Commission.

Key Provisions

  • Prohibits above-basic-pay compensation for the Postmaster General when any covered on-time delivery result is below 95 percent.
  • Extends the same prohibition to bonuses and awards for the Deputy Postmaster General.
  • Requires the threshold to be met for every on-time target in every market-dominant product category.
  • Requires the USPS annual performance report to be submitted to the Postal Regulatory Commission.
  • Preserves basic pay and does not automatically authorize a bonus when USPS meets the threshold.

Evidence Chain:

This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.

At a Glance

What This Bill Does

Bars bonuses and other pay above basic salary for the Postmaster General and Deputy Postmaster General in any fiscal year when USPS fails to achieve at least 95 percent on-time delivery for every market-dominant product category, and adds Postal Regulatory Commission receipt of the annual performance report.

Key Policy Areas

Postal Service, Executive Compensation, Service Performance

Primary Purpose

Bars bonuses and other pay above basic salary for the Postmaster General and Deputy Postmaster General in any fiscal year when USPS fails to achieve at least 95 percent on-time delivery for every market-dominant product category, and adds Postal Regulatory Commission receipt of the annual performance report.

Policy Domains

Postal Service Executive Compensation Service Performance

USPS executive bonuses and performance reporting

Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • Postal customers using market-dominant products
  • Postal Regulatory Commission oversight staff
  • USPS Board of Governors
  • Members of Congress overseeing USPS
  • Members of the public monitoring postal performance
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
  • Postmaster General
  • Deputy Postmaster General
  • USPS Board of Governors
  • USPS compensation and finance staff
  • USPS performance-reporting staff
Model: codex-gpt-5 | Version: bill_summary_v2 | Source: is

Contextual inference, no direct clause citation

Legislative Progress

Reported
Introduced Committee Passed
Aug 6, 2026

Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be …

Jul 29, 2026

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security …

Jul 29, 2026

Introduced in Senate

Jul 29, 2026

Mr. Hawley (for himself and Mr. Blumenthal) introduced the following …

Bill Structure & Actor Mappings

Who is "The Secretary" in each section?

Domains
Postal Service Executive Compensation Service Performance
Actor Mappings
"prc"
→ Postal Regulatory Commission
"governors"
→ USPS Board of Governors
"postal_service"
→ United States Postal Service
"postmaster_general"
→ Postmaster General
"deputy_postmaster_general"
→ Deputy Postmaster General

Key Definitions

Terms defined in this bill

1 term
"bonus restriction trigger" §2

USPS failure in a fiscal year to meet or exceed 95 percent on-time delivery for each target set for every market-dominant product category.

We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.

Learn more about our methodology