Postmaster General Megan Brennan had a sobering prediction for the members of the House Oversight and Reform Committee in April: USPS is projected to lose $13 billion “directly to COVID-19” this fiscal year, and will likely hemorrhage at least another $54 billion by 2030.
“The stark reality is that the pandemic will cause meaningful near term and long term implications from the steep decline in revenue. We will suffer this year and in the coming years,” Brennan told the USPS Board of Governors.
But that may be an optimistic estimate. Donald Trump has repeatedly refused to provide relief funding to USPS. And now he is appointing one of his top donors who advocates for privatizing the USPS to head the agency in a move the National Postal Mail Handlers Union called “undoubtedly a reflection of the Trump administration’s attempt to influence future postal operations.”
We can’t let Trump destroy the Post Office. The USPS’s 630,000 employees -- disproportionately Veterans, disabled Americans, and Americans of color -- deliver almost half the world’s mail. And the USPS gives everyday Americans (especially older Americans and those in rural parts of the country) irreplaceable access to crucial medication, absentee ballots, and connection to and communication with the larger world.
Senator Dianne Feinstein has joined other Democratic senators to urge immediate emergency support for the U.S. Postal Service.
Thank YOU for being part of the fight,
Progressive Majority
