We Are Standing Up: 80,000 Defend the Post Office, Nearly 90,000 Demand SNAP Be Funded, Rural People Across the Country Defend Medicaid
Across rural America and beyond, people are making it clear: rural services should not be bargaining chips for political games.
Earlier this fall, nearly 90,000 people signed our petition calling on the U.S. Department of Agriculture to stop playing politics with food assistance and use the SNAP contingency fund to keep families fed during the government shutdown.
And before the budget bill was passed, we organized rural people across five states in key battleground towns– California, Washington, Iowa, Montana, and Pennsylvania – and collected over 150 rural Medicaid impact stories including farmers, veterans, and rural hospital leaders; placed over 60 LTEs and Op-Eds, and distributed 20,000 Medicaid yard signs -- in addition to supporting and organizing protests at Congressional offices, rural hospitals, and sending rural people to testify before Congress.
For those of us in rural America, these aren’t abstract policy debates. These are very real fights over whether people get their mail, their medicine, and their food.
The U.S. Postal Service is one of the most trusted and beloved institutions in the country—and for good reason. Millions of people rely on it every day for medications, food deliveries, legal documents, ballots, and messages from loved ones.
This week, new reporting revealed that Amazon is considering a major change to its delivery operations that could affect 6.3 billion parcels a year, including the possibility of ending or dramatically scaling back its partnership with the U.S. Postal Service.
That single decision could have massive consequences.
Amazon currently accounts for roughly 7.5 percent of USPS revenue, or about $6 billion annually. If the company walks away and replaces the postal service with a privatized delivery network of its own, it would deal a serious financial blow to one of the most trusted public institutions in the country, while laying the groundwork for exactly what Donald Trump has long wanted: a weakened, privatized post office.
For private companies, delivering mail to rural America simply isn’t profitable. That means higher costs, fewer delivery days, or no service at all for tens of millions of rural people. More than half of USPS offices are in rural areas, and nearly 90 percent of the land serviced by postal workers is rural. Privatization wouldn’t just weaken the post office—it would gut it where it’s needed most.
At the same time, another crisis is unfolding.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 imposes expanded SNAP work requirements, which took effect in December. Policy experts warn that these requirements will likely lead to coverage losses without increasing employment, while shifting more costs onto the states.
For example, Michigan estimates it will cost $75 million per year to implement the new rules, along with an additional $95 million in administrative costs starting in 2027. Advocates warn that, combined with earlier SNAP disruptions during the government shutdown, the changes could worsen food insecurity and strain both state budgets and food banks across Michigan.
But it’s not just Michigan; these attacks hit all rural communities especially hard.
Rural Americans rely on SNAP at higher rates than people in larger cities. When food assistance is delayed or cut off, there often aren’t nearby alternatives—no big grocery stores down the street, no public transportation, no safety net to fall back on.
The same is true for the post office. When public services are dismantled in the name of profit or politics, rural communities are the first to lose access and the last to be heard.
That’s why these fights are connected. Whether it’s mail delivery or food assistance, basic needs should never depend on your ZIP code or your income.
Together, these two petitions represent nearly 170,000 people demanding something fundamental and straightforward: a government that works for everyday people, not billionaires and political strongmen.
We’re continuing to build pressure, elevate rural voices, and demand that public services remain public—and fully funded.
Because hunger is not a negotiating tactic, and the post office is not for sale.
We’re grateful to everyone who has taken action—and we’re just getting started.