President-elect Donald Trump recently discussed privatizing the United States Postal Service (USPS) as he promises to run an administration focused on chipping away at the federal government’s budget, The Washington Post reported over the weekend.
Three people with knowledge of Trump’s conversations told the Post that Trump met with his pick for Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, to discuss privatizing the USPS. The independent mail agency has generally been self-funded, but in 2022, the federal government provided around $50 billion in financial relief as it struggles to generate revenue.
Trump reportedly told his transition officials that the USPS should not be subsidized by the federal government after he was informed of the agency’s annual losses. The USPS recorded a net loss of $9.5 billion in fiscal year 2024 after losing $6.5 billion in 2023.
The president-elect has floated the idea of privatizing the USPS in the past. In 2018, the Trump administration pushed for privatizing the agency, but the proposal was met with Congressional disapproval. The Trump administration argued that the USPS has “extremely high fixed costs,” adding that it “can no longer support the obligations” of “visit[ing] over 150 million addresses six days per week.”
Trump has labeled the USPS “a joke” and Amazon’s “Delivery Boy.” Amazon extensively uses the USPS for “last mile” deliveries between fulfillment centers, homes, and businesses. Opposition to Trump’s idea for the USPS could arise over its “universal obligation” that requires it to carry mail and packages to the most rural parts of the country in a timely manner.
A USPS spokesman told the Post in a statement that it is following a 10-year modernization plan that includes reducing spending and work hours while keeping its commitments.
“The United States Postal Service is already engaged in an initiative to ensure that we can provide our customers with a high level of service to every delivery address in the nation at least 6-days-a-week in an efficient and financially sustainable fashion as required by law,” the statement said.
Ending federal government subsidies for the USPS could become another target for Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Tesla and SpaceX owner Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Trump said DOGE will “dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies,” along with finding ways to give the government an “entrepreneurial approach.”
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Trump has also pledged to eliminate the Department of Education and give states more power to run their own education programs.
“You give them to so many different states, Indiana, they’re dying to do it,” he said during the 2024 campaign. “They can do it for less than half [the funding], and you will have those states competing with the best countries.”
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President-elect Donald Trump recently discussed privatizing the United States Postal Service (USPS) as he promises to run an administration focused on chipping away at the federal government’s budget, The Washington Post reported over the weekend.
Three people with knowledge of Trump’s conversations told the Post that Trump met with his pick for Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, to discuss privatizing the USPS. The independent mail agency has generally been self-funded, but in 2022, the federal government provided around $50 billion in financial relief as it struggles to generate revenue.
Trump reportedly told his transition officials that the USPS should not be subsidized by the federal government after he was informed of the agency’s annual losses. The USPS recorded a net loss of $9.5 billion in fiscal year 2024 after losing $6.5 billion in 2023.
The president-elect has floated the idea of privatizing the USPS in the past. In 2018, the Trump administration pushed for privatizing the agency, but the proposal was met with Congressional disapproval. The Trump administration argued that the USPS has “extremely high fixed costs,” adding that it “can no longer support the obligations” of “visit[ing] over 150 million addresses six days per week.”
Trump has labeled the USPS “a joke” and Amazon’s “Delivery Boy.” Amazon extensively uses the USPS for “last mile” deliveries between fulfillment centers, homes, and businesses. Opposition to Trump’s idea for the USPS could arise over its “universal obligation” that requires it to carry mail and packages to the most rural parts of the country in a timely manner.
A USPS spokesman told the Post in a statement that it is following a 10-year modernization plan that includes reducing spending and work hours while keeping its commitments.
“The United States Postal Service is already engaged in an initiative to ensure that we can provide our customers with a high level of service to every delivery address in the nation at least 6-days-a-week in an efficient and financially sustainable fashion as required by law,” the statement said.
Ending federal government subsidies for the USPS could become another target for Trump’s new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), led by Tesla and SpaceX owner Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Trump said DOGE will “dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies,” along with finding ways to give the government an “entrepreneurial approach.”
CHECK OUT THE DAILY WIRE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE
Trump has also pledged to eliminate the Department of Education and give states more power to run their own education programs.
“You give them to so many different states, Indiana, they’re dying to do it,” he said during the 2024 campaign. “They can do it for less than half [the funding], and you will have those states competing with the best countries.”
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