1w ago

Trump eyes privatizing United States Postal Service during second term

www.theguardian.com Trump eyes privatizing United States Postal Service during second term

The USPS was a target during his first administration, and it might now be on the chopping block due to financial losses

Summary

Donald Trump is considering privatizing the US Postal Service due to its financial losses, a move that could disrupt shipping and push hundreds of thousands of federal workers out of government.

Citing the USPS’s financial losses, Trump argued the agency should not rely on government subsidies.

While his specific privatization plans remain unclear, Trump previously clashed with the USPS during his first term, attempting to shift control of key functions like labor relations and rate-setting to the Treasury Department.

This move could significantly alter the structure and operations of the USPS if implemented.

You're viewing a single thread.

131 comments

the conservative push to destroy this incredibly successful organization continues. its already been punished more than any other entity by requiring things no other business anywhere is required to.
starve the beast. theyve forced it to make financial considerations that now put it in pretend financial trouble so they can point at it as a failure.
if the USPS was allowed to run as any other business today it would be far more successful on paper than it already is, but conservatives just cant live with that.
- Good thing the Democratic administration replaced DeJoy and passed some protections while they were in charge... oh. wait
  
  Can't replace him until a board of people fire him...and they didn't.
  
  There were empty seats on the board that would have tipped the balance, sitting vacant for the entirety of Biden's term.
  
  Not to excuse Biden, because he has fucked up on multiple fronts, but aren't those appointments dependent on Senate confirmations and thus sitting mostly empty under Obama, which let the Cheeto Bandito take over in the first place? And IDK if the Senate would have confirmed any Biden nominees. Wouldn't have hurt to try though.
  
  Biden appointed, and the Senate confirmed, enough postal board members to get rid of DeJoy if Biden wanted.
  But DeJoy is still there, and it's 1000% because Biden did not want to get rid of him.
  
  Biden has made 4 appointments that are waiting for the senate to confirm. The earliest is from February of last year. I think he should have started earlier but to say it's 1000% on him is false.
  
  yep, the guy who demanded the dismantlement of all the new high speed sorting machines. proof biden is just a big ol conservative
- it shouldn't have to be 'profitable' in the first place.
  
  yep. no one ever complains about the profitability of our 'defense' system which seems to do more selling than defending.
  
  It was never intended to be. That's why it has the word "service" right there in its name.
  The USPS spent $89.5 billion in operations this year, which means that even if they didn't collect a single dime from anybody they could serve everyone in the country with every package and letter that they already did in the entirety of 2024 for about 4.475% of the Defense Department's expenditures in that same time frame -- which are just under two trillion dollars.
  The Defense Department as a whole Hoovers up about 24% the Federal budget.
  Therefore the fact that the conservatives have successfully bamboozled everyone into believing that the USPS should be run as a "business" in the first place is incredible. Would you support about 0.1 percent of your Federal taxes spent on granting you free Postal Service access forever? I probably would.
  
  Wait, is it possible to run national defense as a business that's for profit? I mean if we all have to live in a capitalist shit hole anyways why not go for broke?
- We're watching in real time what we've criticized other generations for letting things happen. Wars, electric transportation, malls for developers, Citizen United, etc., etc.,
- Success is measured in how many billionaires it makes. I don't see the USPS making any billionaires. /s

131 comments