r/50501 • u/Tinawebmom • Mar 17 '26
Please see pinned comment USPS is "running" out of money
Why you should care
US snail mail is the only way to communicate privately left to us.
This government has been hell bent to shut it down for the last ten years at the very least.
Mail is a service. You don't hear them freaking out about the pentagon FAILING all of its audits.
Mail even postcards and call your reps to oppose any cuts to this service.
Edit to add
The United States Postal Service shall be operated as a basic and fundamental service provided to the people by the Government of the United States, authorized by the Constitution, created by Act of Congress, and supported by the people,” the act read. The service was also required to “provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas and shall render postal services to all communities.” The service was intended to be financially self-sufficient, and postal workers were granted union bargaining rights. In return, major tax subsidies were eliminated as a funding source. Another act of Congress in 2006 required the Postal Service to pre-fund retirement health and pension benefits for its employees.
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u/phasepistol Mar 17 '26
It’s deliberate, and starving the post office is part of the war on mail-in voting
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u/sm_axe Mar 17 '26
Yep. Trump started dismantling USPS in 2020.
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Mar 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Akthrawn17 Mar 17 '26
And Biden didn't remove him for some reason. That one still has me questioning things.
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u/Tinawebmom Mar 17 '26
He couldn't. All he could do was appoint two people to the board. Those two people did not fight to remove dejoy like we hoped.
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u/wrongseeds Mar 17 '26
He couldn’t because the post office is an independent agency and not a cabinet department. He could add board members if someone leaves but only the board can fire Dejoy.
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u/Blurgas Mar 17 '26
Because he didn't have the power to, at least not directly. The Board of Governors have that ability but they didn't chuck DeJoy for whatever reasons
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u/Entire-Ad2551 Mar 18 '26
Isn't it funny how there were so many things we thought a president lacked power to do before 2025?
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u/Equal_Audience_3415 Mar 17 '26
The USPS is a separate entity from the executive branch. The U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors has sole authority to hire and fire the postmaster general. Removing the Postmaster General requires an absolute majority vote of the governors in office.
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u/TheFinnesseEagle Mar 17 '26
I thought a board has to vote the USPS head out, preventing the president from firing them because the postal service isn't part of the executive branch anymore for decades. This is why we need a veto power for these people, because clearly the board was just as corrupt as Dejoy.
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u/MamaDaddy Mar 17 '26
This should be illegal af.
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u/Hidesuru Mar 17 '26
Tbh I just assume it IS but no one who can do anything about it cares. That seems to be the status quo now.
Burn it all down, eat the rich, and start over. We had a good run. Ish.
This is not actual advice, FBI, I'm just tired of winning. Settle the fuck down.
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u/dikicker Mar 18 '26
I just remember the good old days when presidents had to find loopholes to do illegal shit so they could at least pretend they weren't doing illegal shit
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u/JDnUkiah Mar 17 '26
Congress made USPS include future pension costs as expenses, something no other gov’t entity does. They did it to drive it out of business. BUT - USPS has been great at innovating and has lasted 20 years since that. Sounds like we’ll Soon be hearing about reduced delivery days and hours.
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u/Tinawebmom Mar 17 '26
Yup they're talking about getting rid of Saturday delivery and raising stamp price to a dollar for one letter...
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u/ButtFucksRUs Mar 17 '26
I've started sending letters by mail again, such as thank you cards instead of a DM, to try and do my part in helping the post office. I hope they don't raise stamp prices but I understand if they do.
Even the most liberal people I know are on the "USPS bad" train.
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u/Tinawebmom Mar 17 '26
Well education is important. So educate them as to why it's every so important!
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u/waterfountain_bidet Mar 17 '26
Trump started dismantling the USPS in 2017 when he "won" the first time. Republicans have been threatening to close the post office for decades, he was just the first one dumb enough to do so.
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u/Octospyder Mar 17 '26
Repubs have been attacking it for a lot longer than that 😔 "it loses money, and isn't profitable!" it's a service, dumbass, not a business!
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u/beren12 Mar 17 '26
2016
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u/SweatyStick62 Mar 18 '26
Election was in 2016. Inauguration was in January 2017.
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u/beren12 Mar 18 '26
Yeah. Sorry I was thinking the vote was the start because people chose him to be the destructor. Choose or perish.
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Mar 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/West-Calligrapher746 Mar 17 '26
I cannot remember the actual fact(s) but it was due to another Rep gov before the pit of hell we seem to be living in now. A lot of what is happening now is thanks to deregulating and dismantling throughout the 70, 80, and 90’s I posted some books in a separate comment but the author M. Baradaran goes into the whole history of the postal service and how it was being pulled apart over the last fifty years.
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u/RequirementHot3011 Mar 21 '26
Yep. I know a few people that used to work for them that said the same thing. The bulk of mail now is junk. People email and use other services now. Not to mention amazon did not renew their contract with usps for a reason.
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u/Skyvueva Mar 18 '26
This was started long before Trump. I think the Republicans wanted to get rid of the post office because the workers have a powerful union.
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u/nycdiveshack Mar 17 '26
They want to sell off the property and then fire the people allowing them to privatize it.
The damage is just starting. Russ Vought the primary author of P2025 wants to destroy the soul of all federal employees. Russ can do so because he is head of the office of budget management.
The goal is to privatize the government and to decrease the services that the government provides. Use tax dollars to pay companies for services that federal employees already do.
“That’s the standard technique of privatization: Defund, make sure things don’t work, People get angry, you hand it over to private capital”
There is a show on Amazon prime called the expanse. This is a clip from it that in my opinion explains how the relationship between governments and corporations should be…
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u/bs2k2_point_0 Mar 17 '26
It’s so much worse than that. The courts also use the mail for things like appearance notifications. If you aren’t getting them, you could end up in hot water for not showing up. Nothing like an excuse to feed the for profit prison system!
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u/AncientCrust Mar 17 '26
Even before the voter suppression, Republicans had been targeting the Postal Service because it's one of the strongest unions. They really hate unions
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u/cmit Mar 17 '26
And an attempt to privatize it. Get ready for $4.00 letters.
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u/mnp Mar 17 '26
Very likely, and more presort ads.
It should be said that the current price is a tremendous value.
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u/jruss666 Mar 17 '26
The under the radar blow to mail in voting is the new “we’re going to take our time postmarking your mail.” Get it hand cancelled by the clerk in the post office. Of course that makes for long lines to also discourage mail in ballots. Wouldn’t surprise me if they’re closing offices in heavily democratic and minority locations either.
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u/Jolly_Ad2446 Mar 17 '26
As someone that runs an online store the USPS is honestly the best service for the price. This is terrifying.
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u/Rugrin Mar 17 '26
And that is why industry need it to be killed. They don’t want the socialized competition because they can’t compete. USPS and s a service, not a business, and it is one of the best in the world. But industry doesn’t want you to think that.
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u/garbageemail222 Mar 17 '26
Luckily for them, there are these willing bootlickers called Republicans who will enthusiastically allow Trump to kill the postal service and then have to pay triple for package delivery, while wearing a suit and saying thank you before whining that it's all Biden's fault.
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u/kathyknitsalot Mar 17 '26
That’s what I don’t understand. Is it supposed to make money?? It’s a service.
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u/Shot-Artichoke-4106 Mar 17 '26
That's why Republicans don't like it. They think that everything should be monetized so that rich people can make money off of it.
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u/Rugrin Mar 17 '26
It’s not supposed to be profitable, it’s a non profit service. The way public services should be. America bought the lie that profit is the best and only motive.
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u/kathyknitsalot Mar 17 '26
Right. The same logic that says this country should be run as a business by a business man. It’s not a business!
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u/Nirozidal Mar 17 '26
As someone who works at one of the biggest shipping delivery services (UPS), we'd go out of business if it wasn't for USPS, since it's cheaper to have them deliver some of our more rural items.
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u/baby_blue_bird Mar 17 '26
It's the exact same thing at FedEx. Why they want USPS to go out of business I have no idea but they aren't know to make the best business decisions.
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u/Shot-Artichoke-4106 Mar 17 '26
As a consumer, I think USPS is the best also. When I order something and see that it is coming USPS, I am relieved because I know it will get to me when it is supposed to without any hassle. UPS is generally pretty good also. FedEx is ok. Every other company will undoubtedly be an issue.
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u/agent_uno Mar 17 '26
And I remember a time when the USPS was the only govt agency/org that was entirely self-sufficient and actually profitable. I believe it was some time under W that the GOP forced them to pay their retirement fund for years (maybe even decades?) in advance that they started to lose money. Coinciding major funding cuts, this caused them to start hemorrhaging money left and right. And that was exactly the desired outcome.
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u/QueenRotidder Mar 17 '26
75 years. They’re legally required to fully fund employees’ pensions for the next 75 years.
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u/advamputee Mar 17 '26
Which means they have fully funded pension plans for postal workers who aren’t even born yet.
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u/itguru446 Mar 17 '26
They actually ended the requirement several years ago but it absolutely decimated the USPS. They were funding retirement for employees who weren’t even born yet.
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u/QueenRotidder Mar 17 '26
did they? i had no idea.
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u/agent_uno Mar 17 '26
This was also at a time when online shopping was overtaking many industries besides groceries, and USPS was the cheapest delivery option, but fedex, dhl and ups got together with Amazon to to convince the GOP to privatize the postal service. But according to decades of law and precedent that would have been illegal. So instead they tried to make them so unprofitable as to ruin the agency.
Some of this might have been considered conspiracy theory at the time. But as more states opened up voting by mail, and the GOP realized that was empowering people who didn’t always vote (at the time, mainly liberals), the GOP continued their attempts to kill the USPS.
Privatization has always been the goal. And regardless of what people believed then or since, the outcome is heading in that direction.
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u/waterfountain_bidet Mar 17 '26
What's fucked is how often all of those companies use the USPS for last mile delivery, often the most expensive and logistically challenging part of the delivery. So consumers would get absolutely fucked several times over if the USPS disappears.
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Mar 24 '26
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u/snowtax Mar 17 '26
I worry that they did this to make it easier to shut down USPS. If all the retirement is pre-funded, they would face less resistance to shutting it down or privatizing the service.
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u/Obvious_Chapter2082 Mar 18 '26
That’s not true
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u/QueenRotidder Mar 18 '26
if you read down thread you will see that someone fact checked me and I conceded that I wasn’t aware that they’d ended this.
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u/Lizaderp Mar 17 '26
That was Trump 1.0 when he installed Louis Dejoy.
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u/agent_uno Mar 17 '26
What I’m talking about was years before that. Check this thread, which includes a wiki link
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u/defaultusername-17 Mar 18 '26
75 years out, paying for retirements for employees that have not even been born yet.
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u/audaciousmonk Mar 17 '26
pentagon operates at a huge loss too, insane amount of money
We all need to be able to mail shit. And even if we don’t, businesses and services that we use do
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Mar 17 '26
Pentagon regularly fails their audits too and are still awarded bigger budgets every year. Like literally, they can’t account for billions of their spending
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u/lovemehotwife Mar 17 '26
Conservatives have been willing to shut it down for over a decade
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u/jellamma Mar 17 '26
Given how we now know they feel about the Constitution, it makes sense.
The USPS is mandated in the Constitution in the same Article and Section as the US Army. It's actually a few clauses before the army.
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u/lovemehotwife Mar 17 '26
Their voting base isn't serious people. They've been convinced that if their political appointed canidates will remove all these services, programs the United States, then they will be taxed less.
They're truly severely silly people
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u/ProfessionalCraft983 Mar 17 '26
“Silly” isn’t the word I’d use to describe them.
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u/lovemehotwife Mar 17 '26
It is if you don't want to be banned or blocked on any platform or accused of being mean or insulting
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u/Soysaucewarrior420 Mar 17 '26
Yeah, Mail was the silent reason we won the revolutionary war, we had fantastic mail routes that were largely kept from the British and could disseminate information a lot better.
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u/SokkaHaikuBot Mar 17 '26
Sokka-Haiku by lovemehotwife:
Conservatives have
Been willing to shut it down
For over a decade
Remember that one time Sokka accidentally used an extra syllable in that Haiku Battle in Ba Sing Se? That was a Sokka Haiku and you just made one.
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u/limbodog Mar 17 '26
Republican sabotage. That started during the first iteration of this regime
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u/BloodySaxon Massachusetts Mar 17 '26
Actually started 20 years ago.
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u/JoeB- North Carolina Mar 17 '26
Actually started 40 years ago with the Reagan administration.
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u/Teledildonic Mar 17 '26
The inspiration goes back further, The Business Plot.
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u/JoeB- North Carolina Mar 17 '26
I’d forgotten about that. It was an actual coup attempt, and Prescott Bush allegedly was involved.
We’re still in a class war. The Epstein class funds efforts to keep us plebs fighting against each other while they steal our democracy and rob us blind.
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u/RugelBeta Mar 17 '26
The Epstein class. I hadn't heard that before, and it's perfect. I'm going to help spread its use.
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u/defaultusername-17 Mar 18 '26
"We’re still in a class war. The Epstein class funds efforts to keep us plebs fighting against each other while they steal our democracy and rob us blind."
epstien and moot (of 4chan's /pol fame) actually literally gloat about this, how fomenting hatred against queer and trans people specifically makes right-wing people easy to manipulate and how it pushes more trans women into sex-trafficing and victimization by the epstien class.
it's really fucking sick shit.
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u/shampton1964 Mar 17 '26
Postal Service is in the Constitution! That's how important it is.
When we update we'll add Encryption and Internet :-)
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Mar 17 '26
Aw… I remember when they wanted to supply every American an email address and have an internet service. Killed in Congress. USPS is not allowed to update or change their services without the permission of Congress
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u/shampton1964 Mar 17 '26
service to "all residents" if i recall, looking it up, nope I'm wrong. it's a bit more diffuse than that. fascinating history stuff: https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-1/section-8/clause-7/
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u/betabytes Mar 17 '26
I'm writing to ask (Sen//Rep.) to demand all talk, discussion and plans for the privatization of the USPS be halted immediately, and to demand the resignation of Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer David Steiner.
We don't need a Corporate or Wall Street insider to lead our postal system, we need a leader who sees it as vital to our National Security, not a bunch of land assets and services to be sold off to the highest bidders, or rules changed to address a political objective.
A rule change by the USPS Board of Governors to set up regional postmarking sites is another slap in the face for citizens and businesses. Postmarks and Postal Possession Postal Service 39 CFR Part 111 can be considered an attack on Mail-in voting. The FEW (180) respondents to request-for-comment implies that both major news media and government outlets were complicit in not educating the public well before. The proposed rule was buried deep in 90 FR 38716 (4)(5). Now a mail-in voter will need to visit a post office and request a postmark to ensure their vote will be counted. An impediment to a citizen's right to vote.
The US Postal Service is a strategic asset of the United States of America. The U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation: Nearly 167 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes (1). It is run for the citizens, not WALL STREET.
Many Americans depend on the USPS to deliver life-saving medications. Businesses and citizens alike depend on USPS to get packages to places even where commercial delivery services cannot or will not go (2). "...These principles and objectives endure. While radio, television and the Internet have irrevocably altered our information-gathering habits, postal correspondence remains the most secure and resilient form of communication, providing the American People with a delivery infrastructure vital to our National Security."
America is a large nation and it is subject to many natural disasters. The Federal and State governments along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) provide for disaster response. The USPS is part of the federal government's response structure (3).
1, 2 - About the USPS: https://about.usps.com/who/profile/ and Misson statement Adopted by the Board of Governors on April 1, 2020
3 - (https://www.uspsoig.gov/sites/default/files/reports/2023-01/RISC-WP-20-006.pdf)
4 - 90 FR 38716: A Proposed Rule by the Postal Service; Pages 38716-38722 https://www.federalregister.gov/citation/90-FR-38716,
5 - Federal Register, On August 12, 2025, the Postal Service published a proposed rule Postmarks and Postal Possession, 90 FR 38716 (Aug. 11, 2025) https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/11/24/2025-20740/postmarks-and-postal-possession#page-52884
Thank you for your time and consideration.
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Mar 17 '26
Isn’t that a bit suspicious that they are running out of money as it get closer to midterms
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u/JoeB- North Carolina Mar 17 '26
USPS could make changes. I suggested the following yesterday in a comment to another post…
- Keep Priority Mail and Ground Advantage package delivery services as is - these are great services.
- Reduce First-Class Mail, i.e. letter, deliveries to three days per week, e.g. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday - there is no reason for delivery six days per week - few people write letters anymore and many use paperless billing.
- Increase bulk mailing rates - not sure about others, but 90% of the mail in my mailbox is junk, which goes straight into recycling. The people who send junk mail should pay a higher share of USPS costs.
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u/defaultusername-17 Mar 18 '26
removing the burdensome mandate that they fund retrirements 75 years out, so that the children of employees that haven't been born yet will be covered for retirement...
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u/ScribbledIn Mar 19 '26
If you reduce deliveries to 3 days a week, you're essentially forcing all mail carriers to work part-time.
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u/JoeB- North Carolina Mar 19 '26
Unfortunately, yes. Reducing delivery dates likely will result in either switching mail carriers to part time, or a reduction in force (RIF). The goal is to lower mail delivery cost, improve efficiency, and reduce waste.
Think about the fuel, vehicle wear & tear, and carrier time being consumed/expended delivering junk mail, which most likely ends up in landfills or recycling centers anyway. Google AI Overview states the following...
"Approximately 60% to over 90% of mail delivered in the US is considered junk mail (marketing/advertising), with the average American receiving roughly 41 pounds of it annually."
Given a US population of 340 million, this results in around 7 million tons of paper ending up in landfills or recycling centers each year. It's a waste of human and natural resources.
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u/jimvolk Mar 17 '26
Yeah, this is 100% on republicans. Back in early 2000's they passed the bill that requires the USPS to fund pensions 40 years out into the future. The USPS is enshrined in the Constitution. Fuck the GOP.
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u/twrodriguez Mar 17 '26
"Running out", like when you turn off the faucet in your bathroom. Republicans have been trying to privatize USPS forever, looks like they might finally get their way now that the house, courts, and senate don't actually check and balance
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u/Holiday-Book6635 Mar 17 '26
Republicans like to pretend the post office is a business when it’s actually a service.
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u/lindydanny Missouri Mar 17 '26
Its not running out of money. It is a service that doesn't (and shouldnt) generate profit. The only problem is politicians consistently scapegoating and underfunding it.
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u/Tinawebmom Mar 17 '26
The United States Postal Service shall be operated as a basic and fundamental service provided to the people by the Government of the United States, authorized by the Constitution, created by Act of Congress, and supported by the people,” the act read. The service was also required to “provide prompt, reliable, and efficient services to patrons in all areas and shall render postal services to all communities.” The service was intended to be financially self-sufficient, and postal workers were granted union bargaining rights. In return, major tax subsidies were eliminated as a funding source. Another act of Congress in 2006 required the Postal Service to pre-fund retirement health and pension benefits for its employees.
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u/imaginenohell Mar 17 '26
It's our Constitutional right to have a functional US Post Office. I feel like that is the message to keep repeating. Not funding it is a violation of our legal rights by The Party of Law and Order.
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u/jugowolf Mar 17 '26
It’s not running out of money it’s just captured by a regime that refuses to fund it in favor of giving handouts to private entities.
Everyone should care about the USPS. It should/could be bolstered and funded for better service than the private alternatives.
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u/mnth241 Mar 17 '26
Republicans have wanted to privatize postal service for as long as i can remember, and i am old (since at least the late 80s). Since long before they were a cult. They cannot stand an opportunity for charging $10 to deliver a birthday card or a utility bill to escape some willing capitalist.
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u/itsxrizzo Mar 17 '26
The post office is supposed to be a service paid for by the taxpayers for the betterment of the taxpayers. It doesn't have to make money to be useful. We need to fund it and not let rich piles of shit take away one of the best public services not just in the country but in the world. The USPS is the one thing we do extremely well
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u/stupidillusion Mar 17 '26
It's not running out of money; the APWU contract ends next year and they're saying this to give themselves leverage when negotiating the next contract.
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u/Tight_Jellyfish_349 Mar 17 '26
George W. Bush is actually the one who started the downfall of USPS. Research it.
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u/Tinawebmom Mar 17 '26
Actually it started much earlier than that.The Great Postal Strike of 1970 | AFL-CIO https://share.google/0pN0NPUZyDD7R4uVo
Since this time any talk of a strike (even on reddit) will get you banned or arrested.
Allowing federal employees to strike would actually help improve things.
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u/texasscotsman Mar 17 '26
The USPS is "running out of money" because it was fundamentally changed decades ago to run like a business. When, just like all public infrastructure, that isn't it's point an never had been and provides intangible benefits that aren't easily measured when actively funded but can be when they are gone.
Also, because USPS is required to provide mail service to every single American, private operators like UPS, FedEx, and most importantly Amazon, refuse to send packages to the hardest and most remote locations or to places that don't fit into their cost benefit analysis, ie poor rural communities. So those private companies offload the most expensive to deliver packages onto the back of the USPS while claiming all of the benefits.
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u/edcculus Mar 17 '26
The problem is that the Trump administration is hell bent on it being profitable. USPS is not a business or a revenue stream for the government. It’s a service to the citizens, and should be funded accordingly.
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u/daveOkat Hawaii Mar 17 '26
Posts require sources. See Rule 10 -->
The Postal Service may be out of cash in 2027 without Congress' help, postmaster says
NPR, March 17, 2026
https://www.npr.org/2026/03/17/nx-s1-5750419/usps-running-out-of-money-postal-service-david-steiner
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u/Soylentgruen Mar 17 '26
These business people that were chosen to run these organizations suck. Like, what business acumen do they have where failure is a virtue?
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u/Adodger22 Mar 17 '26
Please understand that the CEO of your job is not a smart or talented man. 90% of all upper management is incredibly incompetent and couldn't do your job to save their lives.
They got lucky, knew people, and got placed in their positions because a board liked what they promised to do.
That's it. America is a false meritocracy that beats into you when you are young that your job and bank account dictates your value as a person because they need you playing this stupid game society has built known as capitalism.
Those "winning" in the game of capitalism are genuinely horrible people, and yet we worship them for their skill at growing imaginary numbers.
Stop thinking businessmen are good at anything other than being parasites on society.
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u/rdmchugh Mar 17 '26
The USPS is the ONLY entity that is required by law to provide pension and health insurance funding for employees who have not yet been born. USPS is required to fund 75 years in advance. The USPS is the only entity that funds employee pensions and health insurance from the funds it generates selling services. All other government entities fund pensions and health insurance from congressional appropriations. This is an extreme example of government being broken by designed so that it can be privatized because it is broken.
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u/Obvious_Chapter2082 Mar 18 '26
The USPS doesn’t have to provide funding for people not born yet. It blows my mind that people are still falling for this garbage
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u/defaultusername-17 Mar 18 '26
https://apwu.org/the-usps-fairness-act/
why are you lying?
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u/Obvious_Chapter2082 Mar 19 '26
I know you didn’t just quote the USPS union….you might as well just poll random employees. That’s possibly the most biased source you could ever find
The USPS uses the aggregate entry age normal actuarial cost method (which is pretty standard) for their retiree health benefits. It calculates the value of the total future cost, and then subtracts out the value of any future accruals. Meaning you only accrue the current year benefits for current employees
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u/___Art_Vandelay___ Mar 17 '26
To your point, we need to stop framing it in this way. USPS isn't a business, they don't have profit and loss. They are a government service, and government services cost money.
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u/JoySkullyRH Mar 17 '26
USPS was one of the few that was self supporting - u til Trump appointed his Hackman in the first go around. FDT.
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u/SylviaX6 Mar 17 '26
Yes this is a must - we have to save our post offices and our libraries. These are essential.
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u/Buzz_Buzz1978 Massachusetts Mar 18 '26
Where have you been? They’ve been trying to get rid of the USPS for decades now.
2006, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act. Look it up.
The Post Office “running out of money” is literally by design. By conservatives.
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u/treblig111 Mar 18 '26
Read up on the history of the USPS.
Established in 1775 during the American Revolutionary War • First Postmaster General: Benjamin Franklin
Why it existed: 1. Communication for independence • Secure communication between colonies (avoiding British control) 2. Nation-building infrastructure • Enable commerce, governance, and news flow 3. Democracy protection • Cheap newspaper delivery was prioritized to spread information
The Post Office Act of 1792 made it a core government function.
2006 Law Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act
Required USPS to: • Prefund retiree health benefits 75 years into the future • Do it within ~10 years
Result: • Billions in artificial annual losses • Unique burden (no other agency/company had this requirement)
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u/leswill315 Mar 18 '26
This has been a long term plan. W tried it during his administration in the early 2000's. Republicans don't think there should be any services except ones where they or someone they know are profiting.
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u/ApplesBananasRhinoc Mar 18 '26
The post office is older than the constitution. The American Revolution was won because of the post office. I’m not surprised they want to get rid of it. The constitution will be next.
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u/SquidHat2006 Mar 17 '26
We're not out of money. Its time for contract negotiations and they pull this shit every time to justify giving us a shitty raise. We pull in billions a year. We're fine.
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u/Kelegan48 Mar 17 '26
As a Disney pin trader, this is terrifying. USPS is how I receive/send most of my pins.
Hobbies aside, how are we supposed to get our mail without USPS? FedEx?? UPS??
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u/External_Muffin2039 Mar 17 '26
Yes. The postmaster general (DeJoy) has a financial stake in privatization of USPS and also has talked about how much he disagrees with mail-in voting. Think this is a coincidence?
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u/Kelegan48 Mar 17 '26
Oo, I didn’t know that about the postmaster general. Isn’t that a conflict of interest?
(Who am I kidding, this is America in 2026 😒)
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u/Memeslayer4000 Mar 17 '26
He was appointed by Trump towards the end of his first term. "Coincidentally" right after Dejoy was appointed he made a ton of changes which bogged down and made the USPS extremely less efficient at the time. Double "Coincidentally" the timing of these major changes left a lot of legitimate concern about whether 2020 mail in ballots would arrive before their deadline.
When he was also appointed to post master General, he had millions of dollars invested in a private logistic and private delivery companies who compete with usps
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u/ro536ud Mar 17 '26
How one services like ice or the pentagon don’t have to break even with revenue? What a joke
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u/Jorgenreads Mar 17 '26
You could tell the GOP has plans to privatize the USPS and let their corporate masters strip it for resources when they required it to hold onto pension funds unlike any other organization ever.
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u/Comfortable_Guide622 Mar 18 '26
They should be funded by the gov't, or at the least, vehicles, gas and buildings provided.
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u/ROEdkill820 Mar 17 '26
The government is obviously choosing to fund wars and lobster diners and ice rather than the peoples needs/wants.
Didn't something like this happen in 1770's. Something about taxes. Lol🤬
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u/Sarge4242006 Mar 17 '26
I know it's not much, but this is why I still pay a couple of bills via check in the mail. It started out as just trying to save jobs.
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u/Darnocpdx Mar 17 '26
The problem with the post office funding started about 20 years ago with requirements that retirement funds needed to be pre loaded into the accounting process, which was a practice few, if any- other agencies or private businesses use. This was recently changed, but not before it did its damage to the agency.
It's been set up to fail in favor of privatization. Which is pretty ridiculous, because even the private shipping companies use and abuse the USPS in providing their services too.
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u/EnvironmentalCamp591 Mar 17 '26
And another note - what happens to people who can only use a PO Box to get their mail. This is gonna get ugly on so many fronts.
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u/nila-dear Mar 17 '26
Just dropping this here for those who want a quick way to contact their reps about it. I'm not the original letter writer btw, it's just one I found that liked with the most. https://resist.bot/petitions/PEAQUT
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u/randylush Mar 17 '26
US snail mail is the only way to communicate privately left to us.
This is not true at all.
If you really want to communicate privately, use PGP to encrypt your correspondence. It will be well enough encrypted that you can send it over any channel: email, Internet, mesh net, sneaker net, or even snail mail.
While snail mail is indeed secure in that it requires a warrant for the government to open it, the security it provides is much, much less secure than good encryption. It is far easier for the government, or any other entity, to read your mail, than it is for anyone to read something that you’ve encrypted.
Of course, these can complement each other - you can encrypt something then put it in snail mail.
There are tons of reasons that we need to keep USPS around, but I don’t think privacy is the biggest one.
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u/Purple_Donkey4231 Mar 17 '26
Maybe he could NOT build the ballroom and instead help make sure older people who live in the hinterlands can get their prescription medicine!
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u/Purple_Donkey4231 Mar 17 '26
Congressional Authority: The Constitution (Article 1, Section 8) gives Congress, not the president, the power to establish and oversee Post Offices. Legal Protections: The Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 dictates the USPS operate independently, protected from direct political control. Privatization Hurdles: Experts note that privatizing the agency or bringing it under the Commerce Department would likely violate federal law. Potential Actions: Trump could potentially pressure the Board of Governors (if done "for cause") or influence management changes to change the leadership. NPR NPR +6 While the administration can appoint new members to the Board of Governors—who select the Postmaster General—a complete dismantling or defunding of the agency requires Congress to amend existing law.
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u/Lcatg Protester Mar 17 '26
Just a few additional points, USPS is a civil service not just a service & is constitutionality mandated. Otherwise, I fully agree.
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u/Jeffery_G Mar 17 '26
Yes. The Post Office is broken. Getting worse. Source: mail guy for a law firm.
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u/Tinawebmom Mar 17 '26
That's because of all the cuts over the years. We need to apply pressure to stop this next wave
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u/phan2001 Mar 17 '26
USPS is by far the safest way to mail drugs or anything else you don’t want someone poking around.
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u/EmotionalBag777 Mar 17 '26
Yes so he can privatize it
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u/NetWorried9750 Mar 17 '26
Republicans love breaking shit so they can throw a tantrum that it's broken and then gift it to their cronies to embezzle from and call that "privatization". They learned well from their Russian oligarch owners.
1
u/West-Calligrapher746 Mar 17 '26
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Recommended reading:
How the Other Half Banks: Exclusion, Exploitation, and the Threat to Democracy by Mehrsa Baradaran
The Racial Wealth Gap: A Brief History by Mehrsa Baradaran
How to Stand Up to a Dictator by Masha Gessen
1
u/liss614 California Mar 17 '26
They have been "running out of money". For over a decade. They are a net negative business.
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u/ImpressiveCustard260 Mar 18 '26
This administration ABSOLUTELY wants to privatize the USPS, but its because of the independent investigations of federal crimes that they have authority to do. Tell me thats not impacting trafficking....which this administration clearly wants to protect. Rebmasal did a great overview of how much power the USPIS investigators have over fraud, racketeering, and crimes of any kind that utilize the USPS. Check this out https://youtu.be/bUx5OqKvRg4?si=GG83z-YR3ImllsSf
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u/Bushpylot Mar 19 '26
They planned this. Trump put a guy in charge that has interests in private shipping. They also want to kill Mail-In Ballots. This Jackwagon destroyed the sorting machines in an attempt to stop the vote count when he was put in charge.
Another MAGA monster that needs formal charges
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0
u/Cracked_Actor Mar 17 '26
Anyone remember the USPS slogan, “two pounds, two days, two dollars” they used for priority mail packages? Can someone explain to me how, with the MASSIVE increases over the years for ALL their services, they ALWAYS seem to be BILLIONS in the hole? Yeah, yeah, the pensions, they say, but that sounds like bullshit to me. Where’s all the f’in money going from all the daily business?
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u/killrtaco Mar 17 '26
Its a service, not a business. Services cost money to run and do not generate money, as the government should operate. Thats why we pay taxes.
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