US Postal Service expects to run out of cash in a year without help from Congress, postmaster says

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 6:01 PM EST, March 5, 2026


The U.S. Postal Service will run out of cash within a year unless Congress lifts a decades-old cap and allows the agency to borrow more money, the new postmaster general warned in an interview. If it doesn’t, the Postal Service might not be able to pay its employees or vendors by February 2027, with potentially dire consequences for mail delivery, Postmaster General David Steiner told The Associated Press.

“How long are employees going to work and vendors going to show up if we’re not paying them?” Steiner said in an interview on Wednesday.

The postmaster general is scheduled to testify before Congress later this month about the Postal Service’s financial struggles and the need to change longstanding rules and regulations that he considers burdensome. He singled out the $15 billion cap on borrowing that has been in place since 1990.

The Postal Service is an independent agency that is funded mostly through postage revenue and the services it provides. Steiner said it has all the burdens of a government agency, such as having to deliver mail six days a week to every address, but none of the benefits, such as an annual appropriation from the federal budget.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/postal-service-budget-cuts-mail-delivery-congress-d44d9d156aad4aefb9b867cd415cd5ac

[Lovie777]

1. Kinda hard to believe..................

I guess like FEMA, the USPO monies is being sucked away as well. shithole and comrades hate the post office which is the largest federal union. Greedy Bezo wants to take over the post office.

shithole is also sucking tax payer's money from many US Departments and it sure is hurting the US citizens.

[otchmoson]

2. President Pedo installed

Louis DeJoy in his first term to be postmaster general (during the covid mess). The man had no experience and came to the post office as a competitor (a logistics CEO). The rumor was that his appointment was intended to destroy the USPS. When the agency was already burdened with having to escrow retirement benefits 25 years into the future (unlike any other agency), they were always in debt. Dejoy's "streamlining" efforts were to a degree successful; he did a lot of damage. I suspect this may have all been an effort to get rid of mail-in voting. During Bernie's first run at the presidency, he had ideas to make this agency really work for the people. He proposed a simple banking system within the agency; unbanked patrons who could not afford a regular bank with minimums and fees, could have something better than money orders to transact their daily business. He also recognized the importance of the post office, especially in small and rural areas, where carriers actually knew their patrons. What a sad situation for Ben Franklin's beautiful creation.

[BumRushDaShow]

4. DeJoy went bye bye a year ago this month

and there is an acting in there. But the damage that was done was severe.

As an example, I had ordered some fudge from one of the Atlantic City, NJ candy makers for gifts (I try to support those little businesses there) and they normally send USPS. I am in Philly and am about 60 miles from Atlantic City which is in South Jersey, meaning it may take about 90 minutes (with traffic) to get there by car and the parcel could have been put in one of the USPS 18-wheelers, and driven from AC right to the main post office here in Philly, or maybe a regional USPS place in the city, in a couple hours.

Instead, the package took a sightseeing trip all the way to CT, then came back south again to North Jersey to putz around, and finally arrived in Philly to go through their sorting process.

[Skittles]

3. the demise of USPS is a repuke wet dream

another case of BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

[Emile]

5. Republicans have elections to steal,

and endless wars to protect pedophiles.

[Ray Bruns]

13. And little girl's schools to bomb.

[ms liberty]

6. In 2006, Congress passed a bill in the lame duck session, and

If it's still in force, millions are going into a slush account every year rather than to operating the post office. The post office has been going downhill ever since. It was discussed here at the time, we all knew about it

[BumRushDaShow]

7. That pre-fund thing was thankfully repealed in April 2022

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142899903

But the damage had already been done.

[ms liberty]

8. I thought it had, but couldn't remember for sure

[BumRushDaShow]

10. It was done right in the middle of the pandemic

so there were a whole lot of things going on around then!

[OldBaldy1701E]

12. Yep. This thing.

But, they got rid of that... after it decimated their funding and stockpile.

As stated, the damage is done.

[ms liberty]

17. Thanks for this image I am now saving for later!

[OldBaldy1701E]

19. My pleasure. (n/t)

[Bengus81]

9. They need to look once again at suspending Sat mail

I think all the junk mail and crapola you get can wait until a Monday delivery. It would save them billions per year and probably more with gas prices that will soar to new highs this year.

[Lonestarblue]

11. Just as planned. I wonder which billionaire buddy is in line to privatize the USPS.

For this Fall's election, Democrats need to jump on this issue because most communities have a Post Office and many small businesses depend on them to get their merchandise and to send it to customers. Few people in rural ares will want their Post Offices replaced by automated kiosks or nothing, forcing them to travel many miles with high gas prices to mail a package.

[Ray Bruns]

14. Screw the USPS. We have a country to bomb!

[bucolic_frolic]

15. Easy-Peasey

$10 a week for mail delivery. Fees are coming. Don't dismiss me as insane because you don't like the idea.

[patphil]

16. Part of the plan to kill voting by mail.

The post office is fundamental to so many parts of our social and economic life, especially as you go from cities into small towns and on to rural America. No private company could do what they do without making the cost of mail substantially higher, and drastically increasing the time it takes for delivery.
The USPS provides an essential service to 10's of millions of people who rely on the Post Office as a means of timely delivery for so many things. It would be a serious hardship for these people if the Post Office were allowed to fail.
One of these things is voting by mail.

It's time to fund the post office through the budget.

[City Lights]

18. The Guardians Of Pedos have been trying to kill

the USPS for decades. They made me sick to my stomach.