By Jeffrey A. Newman Esq.
Postmaster General David Steiner told a House Oversight subcommittee that USPS is at a “critical juncture” and will run out of cash in less than a year unless Congress allows it to borrow more money and charge more for postage. “At our current rate, we’ll be out of cash in less than 12 months. So in about a year from now, the Postal Service would be unable to deliver the mail,” he said.
Why Is This Happening?
USPS is a unique federal government agency that relies on stamps and service fees — not tax dollars — to deliver mail and packages six days a week to every address in the country. USPS has lost billions since 2007 as people use mail less and costs increase, and its financial viability has been on the Government Accountability Office’s High Risk list since 2009.
USPS reported a $2 billion net loss for the second quarter of fiscal 2026, though that was an improvement from the $3.3 billion net loss for the same period the prior year.
What Could Happen?
Steiner told House lawmakers that cutting delivery days, closing post offices, and laying off employees are all “on the table” once USPS is on the brink of insolvency. The agency might stop delivering mail by February 2027 unless Congress changes a federal law that caps the agency’s borrowing limit at $15 billion.
What’s Being Asked For?
Among the changes Steiner is calling for is increasing the Postal Service’s debt limit, which has not changed since 1992, and allowing USPS to raise postage prices beyond the current limits. Steiner said these funds wouldn’t be a “bailout,” but would subsidize increasingly expensive six-day delivery. He also said USPS “cannot cost-cut our way to prosperity.”
Will Congress Act?
According to one policy expert, “It’s entirely possible that Congress will do nothing. Congress has a lot of other high-priority items that they’re working through. So it could be that we just see no action whatsoever until we get really close to the date of the liquidity crisis.”
The GAO has been clear that a Government Accountability Office report found the Postal Service’s business model is “unsustainable,” and that “urgent action” is needed to get ahead of a looming cash crisis.
Jeffrey Newman, JD, MBA, is a whistleblower lawyer whose firm represents physicians and other heathcare providers who become whistleblowers in healthcare fraud cases. Whistleblower laws in the U.S. allow individuals with information about export control violations or tariff fraud to report it under the False Claims Act which if successful awards the whistleblower a percentage of the amount collected. The Firm’s website is www.JeffNewmanLaw.com. Attorney Newman can be reached at Jeff@Jeffnewmanlaw.com or at 978-880-4758. For other blogs, see: http://JeffNewmanLaw.com
