Postal Service

What do I need to know about the Postal Service?

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is an independent agency¹ of the federal government authorized by the US Constitution.² USPS has a universal service obligation³ (PDF), requiring it to provide affordable postal services six days a week to US residents, including those in rural communities where the costs of delivery outstrip postage fees.

USPS employs more than half a million workers, who process and deliver 44% of the world’s mail,⁴ including:

• 112 billion pieces of mail⁵ (PDF) each year to 169 million⁶ (PDF) residential and commercial delivery points.
• More than 7 billion packages⁷ each year, including 2 billion last-mile deliveries⁸ from commercial mailing services like UPS and DHL.
• 1.2 billion prescription medication⁹ shipments annually, including 84% of all VA prescriptions¹⁰ for veterans living in the US.
• More than 99 million mail-in ballots¹¹ to or from voters in the most recent general election, with an average delivery time of one day from voter to election official.
• Important documents or payments sent as registered mail,¹² which is considered secure enough for use with classified Department of Defense documents.¹³

There are 33,904 retail and contract post office locations¹⁴ nationwide. In addition to accepting and processing mail, many of these offices provide other important in-person services, including:

• Postal money orders:¹⁵ As of 2023, USPS issues more than 63 million money orders¹⁶ each year. Money orders allow the 5.6 million US households without bank accounts¹⁷ and the 19 million considered “underbanked” to pay bills and fulfill other financial obligations without a bank account.
• In-person passport applications:¹⁸ This is important because first-time passport applications and all renewals for children must be done in person at a passport acceptance location. Post offices make up about 65%¹⁹ of the 7400 passport acceptance locations²⁰ in the United States.
• Identity verification:²¹ Many USPS offices let people who need to use the unified Login.gov service or apply for unemployment insurance provide proof of identity when online methods fail.
• Burial flags²² for veterans: Local post offices are one of the only places families of deceased veterans can apply for the burial flags provided by the VA.

What is happening?

Many of the Trump administration’s biggest threats to the Postal Service have yet to be implemented. Although the administration has signalled interest²³ in dismantling and privatizing the Postal Service, there are substantial obstacles to achieving this goal, including

• Historic and modern authority outside the executive branch: The Postal Service predates the establishment of the federal government.²⁴ Its founding was closely tied to the birth of the United States as a nation—Benjamin Franklin was the first Postmaster General—and the work of the Postal Service is authorized in the Constitution.²⁵ Although it was a cabinet-level agency²⁶ for nearly a century, the USPS now stands outside direct control by the executive branch.
• Unique governance structure: The nine-member Board of Governors, which appoints the Postmaster General, is designed to promote continuity and apolitical management.²⁷ The board may have no more than five members from any party, and the President is required to consult with Congressional leaders from both parties when appointing postal governors.
• Funding structure: The USPS is primarily funded by postage fees and charges for services.²⁸ Some money also comes from the Postal Service Fund and other congressional appropriations²⁹ in partial compensation for special services and rates, including free mailing services for blind and visually impaired customers³⁰ and ballot delivery for overseas voters.
• Widespread union membership among postal workers: There are multiple collective bargaining agreements covering approximately 550,000 career employees, out of 640,000 total employees. The four³¹ Postal³² Service³³ unions³⁴ have staunchly opposed cutting of jobs and employee benefits, such as would result from privatization or other efforts to dismantle the Postal Service.
• Infrastructural integration: The social and physical infrastructure of the USPS is integrated everywhere, having “the largest physical and logistical infrastructure of any non-military government institution”³⁵ (PDF). With post office buildings and mail carriers providing service in all parts of the country, from Adjuntas, PR 00601 to Ketchikan, AK 99950, the postal service is complex and dispersed in ways that make it resilient, in part because closing post offices or dramatically altering services would have immediate negative effects for so many communities, people, and organizations.
• Broad popularity: 72% of Americans³⁶ view the Postal Service favorably, and it is roughly bipartisan.³⁷ 81% of rural customers³⁸ view the Postal Service as valuable. Legislative action against the Postal Service would run into substantial opposition.

It may be possible to dismantle and privatize the USPS despite these factors—some of which are shared by other independent agencies that have been decimated by the administration. We’ll continue to track any high-level attacks on the Postal Service’s independence and continued existence. In the meantime, smaller but meaningful changes are already underway.

Immediately before abruptly retiring in March,³⁹ Postmaster General Louis DeJoy—who was appointed by President Trump in 2020—laid out terms for cooperating with Elon Musk’s DOGE initiative. Notably, the publicly available summary⁴⁰ (PDF) of his agreement with DOGE—the details of which remain secret—reiterate DeJoy’s longtime targets⁴¹ for reforming the Postal Service rather than opening the door to deeper and more arbitrary cuts seen in other federal agencies. He also reportedly refused DOGE access⁴² to internal USPS systems.

Also in March, DeJoy announced a target of 10,000 USPS jobs eliminated⁴³ via an early retirement buyout originally announced in January; the deadline for acceptance of the buyout has passed, but it’s not clear whether USPS achieved this target.

The USPS Board of Governors—with, reportedly, strong guidance from President Trump⁴⁴—has chosen David Steiner⁴⁵ as the new Postmaster General. Steiner, a FedEx board member,⁴⁶ most recently led Waste Management, a waste and recycling company, in the wake of an insider trading scandal.⁴⁷

Broad countermoves

• Legislators in both the House⁴⁸ and Senate⁴⁹ have introduced bipartisan resolutions for Congress to “take all appropriate measures to ensure that the United States Postal Service remains an independent establishment of the Federal Government and is not subject to privatization.” The House resolution was introduced one week after Inauguration Day.
• Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-VA), who was the ranking minority member of the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, demanded transparency⁵⁰ (PDF) about DOGE’s involvement and USPS’s plans. Rep. Connolly died in office⁵¹ on May 21, 2025. The USPS has not provided the information Connolly requested by the end of March.
• In March⁵² 2025, Americans joined postal workers holding rallies⁵³ against threats to the public service of the USPS,⁵⁴ including Postal Service job cuts. Organizers emphasized the potential consequences⁵⁵ (PDF) to universal service, for people and businesses, as well as to employees all over the country.
• National P. O. Soapbox day on May 3, 2025.⁵⁶ Organizers set up teach-ins for their communities about the Postal Service. The materials are available online,⁵⁷ and the organizers encourage people to hold teach-ins at other times of the year.