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USPS May Suspend Mail on January 9th Day of Mourning (Updated)

Ina Steiner
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USPS May Suspend Mail on January 9th Day of Mourning

President Biden declared January 9, 2025, a day of mourning to honor former President Jimmy Carter who passed away on Sunday. Federal government offices will be closed. Sellers should be aware that given recent history, the USPS may suspend service that day. (Update: see the December 31, 2024 official USPS announcement in the update below.)

The last former United States President to pass away was George H.W. Bush in 2018. Then-President Trump declared December 5, 2018, a national day of mourning, which the USPS observed, announcing at the time:

“The Postal Service will suspend regular mail delivery and retail service Dec. 5. USPS will provide limited package delivery service on that day to ensure that the Postal Service network remains fluid and USPS does not experience any impacts to its package delivery operations that might negatively affect customers or business partners during the remainder of the busy holiday season.”

The Postal Service is an independent agency of the executive branch; given recent precedent, it seems likely to close retail locations and suspend mail service with some limited exceptions, so keep an eye out for the USPS to make an official announcement about exactly how it will handle January 9th’s day of mourning.

Update 12/31/2024: The USPS announced the following today:

“A National Day of Observance has been declared to honor the death of former President, Jimmy Carter.

“The Postal Service will suspend regular mail deliveries, retail services and administrative office activity on Thursday, January 9, 2025. The Postal Service will continue to accept and process volume dropped by commercial mailers at mail processing facilities. There will be limited package delivery service on January 9 to ensure the organization does not experience any impacts to its package delivery operations that may negatively affect customers or business partners.

“All Postal Service facilities—including Headquarters in Washington, DC, and area and district administrative offices—are included in the National Day of Observance.

“Regular operations will resume on Friday, January 10, 2025.”

Written by 

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.

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5 thoughts on “USPS May Suspend Mail on January 9th Day of Mourning (Updated)”

  1. There was a note on the door of my P.O. this afternoon that stated they would be closed on the 9th. The clerk told me there would be no mail delivery on the 9th. and the entire Postal System would be shut down. I hope Ebay is paying attention so they don’t have to do a mea culpa when they penalize all the Sellers for late shipping.

  4. Long gas lines, double digit inflation, economic malaise and the hostages in Iran – JC’s legacy.

    Now add – NO MAIL.

    gee thanks

  5. *** Not Acceptable ***

    From important documentation, payroll checks, to life saving drugs and general e-commerce transactions, the USPS can be a vital part of peoples lives.

    It’s been customary for the U.S. government to close down the postal service for the death of any president, however, we don’t live in 1780 anymore. Times have changed and so should this ridiculous “out of date” tradition.

    And this is another reason why I love doing business with Amazon…they don’t skip a beat for much of anything, as every delivery to my home is from an Amazon electric truck.

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