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Postal Service Keeps Going by Tapping Workers' Retirement
Newser • • business
Key Points:
- The US Postal Service (USPS) will not face a cash collapse in 2027 as previously warned, with new projections pushing a potential financial crisis to between 2031 and 2034 due to paused retirement fund payments and cost-cutting measures.
- Postmaster General David Steiner testified that USPS is currently operating by deferring payments to worker retirement plans, a strategy deemed unsustainable and putting the agency at risk of running out of operating funds within months if this practice stops.
- Approximately 58% of the 18,000 USPS post offices operate at a loss, contributing to the agency's recent $2 billion quarterly loss.
- USPS is responding by raising stamp prices and urging Congress to revise borrowing limits, retirement obligations, and the six-day delivery mandate to stabilize its finances.
- Lawmakers are demanding detailed financial projections before approving any legislative changes, acknowledging that USPS has a broken business model requiring congressional intervention.
