US postal service will run out of money by February 2027, says agency chief

"The postal service which relies on stamps and service fees rather than tax dollars to deliver mail six days a week to every address in the country would run out of cash for employees and vendors by February next year. The agency has operated with a financial shortfall almost every fiscal year since 2007, as people and businesses have moved toward paperless billing and digital communication, forgoing first-class mail."

"Steiner, who is scheduled to testify before Congress this month, has called for changes to a federal law that caps the agency's borrowing at $15bn. The former CEO of the nation's largest waste-management company and a former member of the FedEx board of directors who took over the postal service last July has also said that USPS needs to boost revenue by expanding a nationwide last-mile delivery network."

"I do not believe that the postal service should be privatized or that it should become an appropriated part of the federal government. I believe in the current structure of the postal service as a self-financing, independent entity of the executive branch."

The US Postal Service faces a critical financial crisis and will deplete its cash reserves by February 2026 without congressional action to increase its borrowing limit. The agency has operated at a deficit nearly every year since 2007 due to declining first-class mail volume as customers shift to digital communication and paperless billing. USPS currently borrows from the US Treasury to cover operational shortfalls. Postmaster General David Steiner, who previously led a major waste-management company and served on FedEx's board, proposes expanding last-mile delivery services to boost revenue. He opposes privatization or restructuring USPS as a federal appropriation, advocating instead for maintaining its current structure as a self-financing independent entity.

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