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.

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.
  
  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.
- 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

For fuck's sake, it's not meant to make money, it's a public service - it's literally in the name!
I wish more countries governments would get their head out of their capitalistic arses and understand that the services they run aren't meant to be profitable - that's what taxes are meant to be for!
- You're going to have to get with the times. Everything has to make money or it's scrapped including us.
  
  Amen, brother.
  
  I'm no economist but at some point doesn't that fall apart? If everything needs to be generating then aren't we creating a vacuum at the bottom or whatever? Money has to come in and go out equally in the end, no?

The postal service doesn't lose money, it costs money.
By this logic, the interstate highway system and the military both lose billions! Is Trump going to privatize them too?
- Thats not even a true statement.
  The postal service makes money, but any surpless is automatically taken by Congress.
  In the early 2000s the GOP passed a law requiring the postal service to upfront load the retirement funds of new employees, creating a massive debt burden.
  Also, Congress has removed their ability to modernize equipment and fleets, forcing them to continue repairing aged equipment.
  Not to mention, DeJoy, Trump's installment during his first term, has done everything he can to dismantle any modernization because he wants the Post Office sold at rock bottom prices so he can buy it, get this, because he owns competing companies.
  
  modernize equipment and fleets
  They're getting those new electric trucks though.
  
  Further reading: https://www.nalc.org/news/the-postal-record/2022/may-2022/document/Postal-reform.pdf
  I skipped to the part about 2003 - if my reading comprehension is right, USPS was in the black. When congress noticed, they made financial magic by using the pension funding mandate to help hide how bad the federal deficit had ballooned during that administration? This is such political theater.
  Yeah, I consulted chatgpt for sources on the history behind why that 75-year funding requirement was enacted. The other link it gave me was this: https://www.epi.org/press/news_from_epi_retiree_health_pre-funding_is_primary_cause_of_usps_shor/
  Was there a better reason Pension Funding was even brought up as an issue worth legislating for? Was there some scare trend of businesses scamming people out of their pensions? Source?
- Don't forget National and State parks - public lands in general. WhY ArEn'T tHeY tUrNiNg a PRooooFiT??
  
  You're right, and that one isn't even hyperbole. They earnestly want to turn the parks into oil fields and cut down the forests.
  
  Dont forget the fire department
- Don't give him ideas. He probably would.
- Can't spend money on sinfrastructure.
  Get ready for more train derailments!
- Don't give it ideas.
- Don't tell the Trump administration about the toll highway system in France

Every thing the gop has done to the usps had hurt it more... but everytime I hear "it doesn't make money" well it did before the absolutely idiotic idea to make sure pensions were super funded forward. Ontop of that. Why the fuck does a government organization need to make money? I hate this whole "run a country like a business" bullshit so much. Money makes everything worse.
- USPS doesn't lose a dime. It's a service. It costs money to run.
  You know, like a government office does.
- Same for public transit.
  A bit of compensation isn't a crazy idea, but it doesn't have to break even with the money it does bring in. It's not like we have a ton of toll roads either, it's not an issue to spend billions on another lane or two.
- The GOP exists to oppose anything that serves the common good. They exist to transfer public wealth to private interests. That is their entire mandate
  
  Which is why they want to privatize everything... easier to grift from. I just find it hilarious that they take full power, fuck everything up, lose power and point to things saying "see it doesn't work!" And their lapdogs just eat it up. Yes when you cripple something it will fail, and then you blame it or the dems and hey you get to do it again!

Its almost funny how cartoonishly evil the Republicans are. They literally are shutting down all public utilities, giving contracts to the rich, spending trillions in the name of "cutting spending", kicking out random people, and im pretty sure a Republican has openly decared friendship to be his greatest enemy (because "woke" or smth). If this was a simulation the developers are getting extremely lazy with this plotline, the villans are literally just evil.
- Its cause people are delusional and think they are the party of "small government" just because they lower taxes in the short term.
  
  *For the rich while increasing taxes on the poor

Citing the USPS’s financial losses, Trump argued the agency should not rely on government subsidies.
It already doesn't. USPS is entirely internally funded. What a fucking idiot.
- https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senate-approves-50-billion-postal-service-relief-bill-2022-03-08/
  It is, until it's not
  
  Much of their operating costs is due to the insane pension funding they have to do. Way more than other parts of the government.

Oh, the financial losses that can be directly linked back to Louis DeJoy's actions while in charge to actively sabotage the service, the same DeJoy that Trump appointed to sabotage the service?
They murdered it so they could sell it off, don't let them claim otherwise
- Pretty sure the issues started well before that fuckface was in charge.
  
  USPS is obligated to deliver everywhere. Uncle Steve who lives out in the middle of buttfuck nowhere gets mail service just like Cousin Roger who lives in the middle of town. Shocking literally no one, having to deliver to multiple Uncle Steve's costs way more money then it brings in.
  Then there's inflation, and also just less folks sending mail as a general thing because e-mail is instantaneous and free.
  The pension funding requirement was the overwhelming majority of their losses, but that's been resolved as of 2022.
  https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/06/politics/biden-postal-service-reform-law-signing/index.html
  
  In 06 the Republican Congress decided USPS was too profitable and they imposed funding pensions out for 75 years.

Fuck the fascists. We fought the British over less tyrannical shit than what Trump is promising.
- The beatings will continue until a revolution begins
  Just like the first time

Wow, so wild that the agency you crippled with a nonsensical pension funding requirement is no longer running as efficiently as you demand! what a huge surprise, no one could have seen this coming!
Super cool that the Democrats didn't reverse that insane requirement btw.
- Super cool that the Democrats didn't reverse that insane requirement btw.
  The Democrats did reverse that insane requirement. In 2022.
- The democratic party is a limp dick.
  
  Yes, but to be fair to them they did actually manage to reverse that particular nonsensical requirement.
- https://lemmy.world/comment/13978696

doesn't USPS have some special legal status? how are supposed to be things like court orders delivered if not by national mail carrier?
- Who cares about the Constitution?
- 2-bit countries don’t need shit like that.

It isn't a business, it is a service, it costs money that our taxes pay, so we don't have to pay shitty private companies. (And it still makes money) "Let's make the Mail just like ISPs" is a stupid take.
- We should be making ISPs more like the mail.
  
  Fun fact, lots of ISPs basically are, and Trump wants to ruin that as well. The coop I work for has a FANTASTIC network, and the pay is excellent as well. If it becomes a shitty profit seeking private company, that will all change.
- ... it costs money that our taxes pay ...
  Nope. USPS is entirely internally funded. No tax money goes to it at all.

Given the country's current mood, is it really wise for the oligarchs to threaten the livelihoods of the very group that gave us the expression going postal?
- TIL

United Tesla Shipping...UTS
United Tesla Institute... UTI
Shipping Tesla Institution...STI
So many possibilities!
- Call me dumb… but what does UTS actually stand for?
  
  Google says University of Technology Sydney.
  Adding "medical" to the Google search returns.... University of Technology Sydney, and a health consultant in Australia.
  So... I'm going to go with University of Technology Sydney.
  While Google results have tanked the past few years, I can't find a combination of keywords that even suggests some sort of sexual/urinary ("naughty bits") infection.
  DuckDuckGo returns Ultimate Tennis Showdown.
  Adding "medical" suggests to add "syndrome" and got me to "Ulnar Tunnel Syndrome" ("ulnar neuropathy at the wrist where it passes through the ulnar tunnel")... So, too much masturbation? I'm struggling to make it naughty
  
  Its just like the UPS but with a T. They could also have the all new USTS!.... The United States Tesla Shipping!
- Nah, Elon's all about dat X. He'll just call them all X.

I'm not an accelerationist, but what's left to do now except bathe in the worm glow of our country burning down?
There is no arguing that America doesn't deserve all the bad things, and maybe a good old fashioned conflagration would straighten the survivors out for a generation or two.
- I’m not an accelerationist, but what’s left to do now except bathe in the worm glow of our country burning down?
  Well it's certainly not enough to just luxuriate in the chaos. Every time Trump makes things worse it's our job to point it out and explain why he's doing it. People won't radicalize on their own! They'll just blame immigrants and woke and DEI etc etc.
  
  Do you hear yourself? You want revolution through explaining?
  Trump supporters are not confused progressives. Trump is what America wants, He's what America is. He's what America deserves. Trump is more American than bullets and ground beef. He hasn't overthrown the founders, he's fulfilled their vision. We're not going to change that by scolding people on the internet.
  I understand, I used to think just like you. I used to be a patriot. I've voted for every Democrat presidential nominee from Gore to Harris. But these days I'm writing to the State to take my name off those goddam rolls. I suppose you'll take a dim view of that, but no bullshit about civic duty, democracy, or engagement could ever compare to the tangible material benefit of avoiding jury duty.
  I don't wanna save America anymore. In fact I think her decline is funny and I'm tired of pretending it's not.
- Because a lot of mostly innocent people get hurt the most when it all collapses around us, and most likely you'll also be hit by the effects of the collapse. It's why it's so important we work to fix the broken things and change what is wrong, and to be there for other people when things do break down rather than just wipe our hands and let the whole thing fall uncontrolled and unprepared.

Quid pro Bezos

Yeah, good luck with that.
Sincerely,
The UK, where we already had that stupid fucking idea.

Republicans wish to destroy any public service. That has always been their mission.

The Postal Service is in the United States Constitution, Article I:
Section. 8.
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
Clause 7:
To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
US Constitution text / archive.gov
- The Supreme Court gets to decide what that means.

And how would you privatize an entity that's in the Constitution? I wonder how that'd look....
- Consitution? PFffffft!!

IF THEY PRIVATIZE THE FUCKING MAIL I AM GOING TO SCREAM. Is nothing sacred?

Meanwhile in France
"Post offices are everywhere, private banks don't have locations outside cities... How about we create our own bank linked to the postal services!"
- A postal bank that uses GNU Taler would be pretty legit.

Does everything have to be a business to this guy? Some things are government services bcz they need to be done, and private businesses wouldn't make money off it. Not everything needs to be an attempt at making money off people.

We need another mangione to put him out of our misery

My country did that long ago. Works worse every year.. sometimes I have to wait for my Mail for a week. Used to be 24h.

There's a HUGE real estate incentive here. Yeah the service can make tons of money for whatever company comes in but the real estate imo is the big one.

You Americans will have to fix the shit this idiot breaks for generations to come.
- i didn’t think they will be able to. all the kleptocrats will make sure that there’s some legal document that will guarantee that they get hugely compensated in the event that the government tries to take their property back.
- Americans will give Democrats exactly 4 years to fix the damage and then vote for Republicans again. Bush and Trump are two of the worst people to ever hold the job and it still didn't cause any lasting animosity.

I don't think he will actually be able to pull this off. All federal agencies use USPS because they are govt employees, there are tons and tons of policies written about what has to be sent using USPS. Sure he probably could try to do this, but I imagine he will get a fair bit of pushback internally

Again?

It reminds me of how the right-wing politicians are trying to privatize Correios (the Brazilian Postal Service) here in Brazil. They alleged a similar thing: financial losses, inefficiency, and so on. While Correios doesn't offer a really wonderful service, it's really doubtable if a private company would improve it (spoiler: it won't).

I'm actually surprised that the USPS still exists in its current form. In several European countries, there's now very limited postal service because people just aren't sending regular mail anymore. It's all email and packages. As a result, public postal service have either been more or less shut down or privatized into a parcel service.

Meh. The usps delivers mostly junk mail. Occasionally they deliver a bill. The packages they deliver could be covered by others. There will be gaps in rural areas of course. But those are the people who steadfastly vote for smaller government. So they most be okay with it. I say, let it go. Junk mail will cease because a private business would have to charge to much. Bills and such would go electronic... like the denial letter from anthem that they rufused to tell me the contents of. That all sounds good to me.
- You know what else the USPS delivers? Anything to a rural address that UPS and FedEx and the others won't deliver to. Because those private companies can refuse to deliver to places but the USPS can't. And you know what is in those packages? Things not easily gotten to rural places. Like medication.
  
  I literally said that. The people in rural areas overwhelmingly voted for this. It's their will. They don't like programs that only benefit specific groups like the poor or disabled. Rural is just another group right.
- Your anecdotal evidence is fucking removed fyi
  
  You must be high. I didn't provide any evidence. I just gave an opinion paired with a comment about obvious hypocrisy.
- Holy shit what a stupid fucking take.
  
  Take your pointless comments back to reddit where they belong.

131 comments

Section. 8.