What Is the Franking Privilege and Who Has It?

The franking privilege is a legal authority that allows members of Congress and a small group of other officials to send official mail through the U.S. Postal Service without paying postage, using their signature in place of a stamp. Congress reimburses the Postal Service for the cost through its annual appropriations, so the mail is free to the sender but not to taxpayers. The privilege is meant to support official communication with constituents about legislation, government programs, and public services, and it comes with strict rules about content and timing.

Who Can Use the Frank

Federal law in Title 39 of the U.S. Code sets out exactly who qualifies.¹ The list is shorter than many people assume.

Every sitting Senator, Representative, Delegate, and Resident Commissioner. Members-elect can use the frank before being sworn in, and Senators keep it for 90 days after leaving office.²
The Vice President, in the role of president of the Senate.¹
Former Presidents and their surviving spouses, who can send nonpolitical mail under the frank inside the United States and its territories with no expiration.³
Senior officials of the legislative branch: the Secretary of the Senate, the Sergeant at Arms of the Senate, the Legislative Counsels of both chambers, the Senate Legal Counsel, the Law Revision Counsel of the House, and the elected officers of the House other than Members.⁴
The surviving spouse or a designated relative of a Senator who dies in office, for up to 180 days after the Senator’s death.²

In the early years of the country, the privilege reached much further into the executive branch. Cabinet secretaries and other executive officials could all send mail postage-free. That is no longer the case. Today the frank is essentially a legislative branch tool, with the narrow carve-outs for former Presidents and their spouses.

What Can Be Sent Under the Frank

The statute lists the kinds of mail that qualify: newsletters, press releases, questionnaires seeking public opinion, correspondence about government programs, nonpartisan voter registration information, and federal publications.¹ Mail sent between a Member’s Washington and district offices also qualifies.

The restrictions matter just as much. Franked mail cannot be purely personal, cannot solicit political support or votes for a candidate, and cannot ask for money or other financial assistance. Holiday cards and personal congratulatory notes are outside the privilege. One narrow exception exists: a Member can send something personally relevant to a constituent when the subject connects to the Member’s official work.¹

The line between a newsletter about legislative work and a campaign mailer can be hard to draw, which is why both chambers run advisory review processes for questionable pieces.

Mass Mailings and the Pre-Election Blackout

The tightest rules apply to mass mailings. A mass mailing is defined as any batch of pieces with substantially identical content totaling more than 500 in a single session of Congress, whether sent at once or spread out over time. Some categories are excluded from the count even when they exceed 500 pieces: direct responses to inquiries from the recipient, correspondence with other Members or with federal, state, and local officials, press releases sent to media outlets, and information about service academy nominations, official employment listings, or natural disaster responses.⁵

Then there is the election blackout. No Senator may send a mass mailing as franked mail postmarked within 60 days of any primary or general election in which that Senator is a candidate.⁵ The House applies the same 60-day blackout to its Members for both mass mailings and mass communications of any kind.⁶ The rule keeps taxpayer-funded mail from doubling as campaign literature in the weeks before voters go to the polls.

Who Actually Pays

Franked mail is free to the sender, not to the public. Congress reimburses the Postal Service for every piece through its annual legislative branch appropriations. On the House side, each Member’s official mail costs are built into the office budget, calculated in part on the number of residential addresses in the district. The Postmaster General provides quarterly reports to both chambers on estimated volume and cost, broken out by House and Senate. Costs for former Presidents come from a separate dedicated appropriation rather than the congressional mail budget.⁴

Oversight and Penalties

Each chamber polices its own use of the frank. In the House, the House Communications Standards Commission (previously called the Franking Commission) writes the regulations, issues advisory opinions on whether a proposed mailing complies, and investigates complaints.⁷ Its advisory opinions are published online.⁸ In the Senate, the Select Committee on Ethics administers the franking regulations, and the Committee on Rules and Administration handles broader communications guidance.²

Anyone who believes a House Member has violated the rules can file a complaint with the House Communications Standards Commission. If the Commission finds reasonable justification, it opens an investigation.⁹ Money collected for mail sent improperly under the frank is deposited into the general fund of the Treasury.⁴ A separate federal criminal statute makes it a fineable offense to use an official envelope or franking label to avoid postage on private mail, though most enforcement runs through the internal commission process rather than criminal charges.¹⁰

Does It Cover Email and Social Media

Franking is a postal privilege, and by itself it does not apply to email, social media, or other electronic communications. The Senate Ethics Committee has said this plainly: its franking regulations cover physical mail only, and Senators seeking guidance on mass emails are directed to the Committee on Rules and Administration.¹¹

The House handles it a little differently. When the Franking Commission was renamed the House Communications Standards Commission in 2020, its jurisdiction expanded to cover mass digital communications alongside postal mail.⁷ House Members now submit digital content to the same commission that reviews franked mail, and the 60-day pre-election blackout applies to their mass digital communications too.⁶ A single set of content rules now covers both printed mailings and digital outreach from House offices.⁸

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 39 USC 3210 – Franked Mail Transmitted by the Vice President, Members of Congress, and Congressional Officials
2
United States Senate Select Committee on Ethics. Regulations Governing the Use of the Mailing Frank by Members and Officers of the United States Senate
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 39 USC 3214 – Mailing Privilege of Former President; Surviving Spouse of Former President
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 39 USC 3216 – Reimbursement for Franked Mailings
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 39 U.S. Code 3210 – Franked Mail Transmitted by the Vice President, Members of Congress, and Congressional Officials
6
Committee on House Administration. House Communications Standards Commission Blackout Dates
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 2 U.S. Code 501 – House Communications Standards Commission
8
Committee on House Administration. Communications Guidelines
9
U.S. Government Publishing Office. 2 U.S.C. Chapter 16 – Congressional Mailing Standards
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1719 – Franking Privilege
11
United States Senate Select Committee on Ethics. Franking, Mass Mailing, and Letterhead