⚖ Oral Arguments, with Context

The Postal Service challenges how its regulator reviews customized shipping contracts before they take effect. The dispute arose from Contract 620, a negotiated service agreement offering one customer volume-based discounts for Priority Mail and USPS Ground Advantage. The Commission approved it, but barred future clauses requiring USPS to accept packages or otherwise perform before approval. USPS calls those clauses financial protection against regulatory delay; the Commission calls them performance under an unapproved agreement. After the Commission denied reconsideration, USPS petitioned the D.C. Circuit for review. The merits turn on whether these agreements simply set customer-specific rates for existing postal products or can themselves be new products requiring approval before performance. Before reaching the merits, the judges raise an unbriefed question after Trump v. Slaughter: can Article III courts hear a dispute between two entities in a unitary Executive Branch?

USPS v. PRC (No. 25-1120) — U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, argued September 14, 2026.