US Postal Service to seek congressional funding amid ongoing financial crisis

The US Postal Service plans to request a modest, temporary annual appropriation from Congress to address its long-term financial crisis. While the agency narrowed its third-quarter net loss to $2.5 billion and extended its cash runway to the 2030s by suspending pension contributions, Postmaster General David Steiner warns that structural reforms are required. Without congressional action, the agency may lower service standards, raise prices, and close thousands of post offices after January 2027.

USPS congressional funding request

• ▪The United States Postal Service is authorized to request up to $460 million annually from Congress as public service reimbursement, a funding mechanism it has not utilized since 1982.
• ▪Postmaster General David Steiner stated on August 7, 2026, that the requested congressional appropriation should be adjusted periodically for inflation and could be reduced as the agency becomes more profitable.
• ▪The United States Postal Service plans to request a modest, temporary annual appropriation from Congress to help pay its bills and address its long-term business model.

Postal Service financial crisis

• ▪The United States Postal Service operating revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2026 was $19.9 billion, representing a 6.1 percent increase from the previous year but a decline from the prior quarter's $20.2 billion.
• ▪The United States Postal Service reported a net loss of $2.5 billion for the third quarter of fiscal 2026, an improvement from the $3.1 billion net loss reported during the same period in 2025.
• ▪The United States Postal Service operates under a $15 billion federal borrowing allowance cap established in 1990, forcing the agency to rely primarily on its own revenue to cover operating losses.

Cash conservation measures

• ▪The United States Postal Service delayed its projected cash depletion from early 2027 to sometime between 2031 and 2034 by suspending its employer contributions to the Federal Employees Retirement System.
• ▪The United States Postal Service raised the price of a first-class Forever stamp to 82 cents in July 2026 and is considering another price increase in January 2027.

Potential service cuts

• ▪Postmaster General David Steiner warned that if Congress does not pass a legislative reform package in 2026, the United States Postal Service will consider lowering service standards after January 2027.
• ▪Postmaster General David Steiner pushed back against bipartisan Senate efforts to add over 70 new zip codes, writing to Senator Rand Paul that the move would cost the agency $800 million.

Economic impact of USPS

• ▪Private shipping companies like Amazon and United Parcel Service compete with the United States Postal Service but also pay the agency to deliver packages to unprofitable rural destinations.
• ▪Postmaster General David Steiner warned that a cash depletion at the United States Postal Service would jeopardize a nearly $2 trillion mailing and shipping industry that supports approximately 78 million jobs.

3 sources