US Post Master General David Steiner: The USPS Is No Longer Sustainable

Editor's note: Why not start with a humble little project before "making America great again", say, making the US Postal Service (USPS) merely functional again, or at the very least, not an embarrassing national punchline? Reform the bloated, loss-riddled postal system bureaucracy from top to bottom, or just scrap it all together for a system that can actually deliver a letter this decade. Then, and only then, we can talk about tackling the rest of the country.

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The Broken Promise of the United States Postal Service: A System in Decay Demanding Radical Reform or Replacement

July 4, 2026 | AD News Network

For generations, Americans have relied on the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a vital link binding the nation together. Yet today that promise lies in tatters. Billions in annual losses, chronically poor delivery performance, executive bonuses awarded amid widespread service failures, and a culture of unaccountability have eroded public trust. The USPS stands as a textbook example of a government monopoly crippled by outdated mandates, bureaucratic inertia, and misaligned incentives. Investigative audits from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Postal Service Office of Inspector General paint a damning picture. Americans deserve better. They demand a system that delivers reliably without draining resources or excusing failure. Half measures will no longer suffice.

The financial hemorrhage tells the story most clearly. The USPS has recorded net losses in nearly every fiscal year since 2007, accumulating roughly 118 billion dollars through fiscal year 2025. In fiscal year 2025 alone, the agency reported nearly nine billion dollars in the red, with total revenue around 81 billion dollars against expenses nearing 90 billion dollars. Mail and package volume continues its decline, dropping over three percent in the most recent year. Decades of deferred maintenance, rigid labor contracts, and congressionally imposed pension and retiree health obligations bear much of the blame. These non-controllable costs reportedly account for seventy percent of recent reported losses. The agency has maxed out its $15 billion dollar statutory borrowing limit from the US Treasury. The Postmaster General has warned of potential cash shortages as early as early 2027. GAO analysts have placed the USPS on the high risk list since 2009 and described "its business model as unsustainable."

Service performance matches the financial decay. On time delivery for First Class Mail fell from ninety one percent in fiscal year 2022 to approximately eighty six percent in fiscal year 2025, even after the USPS lowered its own standards by extending delivery windows. Network consolidation efforts under the Delivering for America plan have produced isolated improvements in late 2025, yet OIG field audits continue to uncover piles of delayed mail, improper scanning, and rural service breakdowns. Customers report lost items, stolen checks, and packages stranded for days or weeks. Organized crime and internal theft compound the problem. OIG investigations closed hundreds of mail theft cases in recent semiannual periods, recovering millions but exposing systemic vulnerabilities in employee oversight and facility security.

The awarding of executive bonuses amid this incompetence stands out as particularly outrageous. While carriers grapple with understaffing and outdated equipment, and while customers endure missed deliveries and backlogs, top leadership continues to receive substantial compensation that includes performance bonuses. The Postmaster General earns a salary of approximately $350,000, among the highest paid public sector roles of its kind, with additional incentive compensation layered on top in various years. Annual reports and disclosures reveal multiple deputy level officials collecting bonuses in the $15,000 to $26,000 range on top of six figure base salaries in recent cycles. Past compensation packages have drawn sharp congressional criticism, with total pay sometimes reaching hundreds of thousands when incentives and perks are included. Senator Josh Hawley and others have publicly grilled leadership on these payouts, asking why bonuses and outsized salaries flow when constituents face undelivered mail and reported piles of delayed correspondence in districts nationwide.

These bonuses and elevated salaries are not minor perks. They represent a profound misalignment of incentives. Executives preside over an agency that has failed to meet key performance goals for years. They oversee network changes that OIG reports have linked to service disruptions. They operate within a structure that produces consistent multibillion dollar losses. Yet the bonus system, tied to internal metrics that often appear disconnected from real world customer outcomes such as consistent on time delivery above 95% or drastic reductions in lost mail complaints, continues largely intact. This creates a culture of reward without results. Taxpayers and mail users effectively subsidize executive compensation while bearing the costs of incompetence through higher prices, slower service, and eroded trust. The contrast is stark and indefensible: frontline workers face real consequences for delays, yet leadership reaps financial rewards for presiding over systemic failure.

This is not mere misfortune. It is the predictable outcome of a protected monopoly shielded from market discipline. The USPS enjoys exclusive rights over letter mail while competing in packages. Yet congressional restrictions on pricing, borrowing, and operations prevent genuine innovation. Union contracts lock in costs. Politically appointed leadership cycles limit long term vision. The result is a sclerotic institution unable to adapt to digital shifts or e-commerce realities. Private competitors like UPS and FedEx operate profitably in many segments precisely because they face real incentives to control costs and satisfy customers. The USPS does not.

Reform offers one path forward, but only if pursued aggressively and without compromise. Congress must immediately address core structural flaws. Raise or eliminate the archaic debt limit to permit necessary capital investment in automation and modern facilities. Complete pension reforms beyond the 2022 Postal Service Reform Act to align costs with actuarial reality and eliminate unfunded liabilities. Tie all executive compensation strictly to verifiable, customer facing metrics such as on time delivery rates above 95%, with clawback provisions for shortfalls. Expand private sector last mile delivery contracts and allow greater pricing flexibility in competitive products.

Mandate transparent, publicly available long term financial projections as repeatedly recommended by the GAO. Strengthen OIG independence and require swift implementation of its audit findings on mail theft and operational waste. These steps could stabilize the agency and improve service within existing infrastructure. Yet they may prove insufficient. The universal service obligation to reach every address six days per week imposes inherent costs that markets might not bear without subsidies. Rural routes and low volume areas lose money by design. If Congress refuses to fund the true cost of universal service through appropriations, the monopoly model will continue to fail.

Replacement through measured privatization or competition therefore merits serious consideration. Split the enterprise. Maintain a streamlined government or subsidized entity strictly for universal letter mail with clear taxpayer guardrails. Carve out the parcel and competitive businesses for full private operation, potentially via initial public offering or sale (see Trump wants to shake up the US Postal Service. Here's what it'll mean for your deliveries). Proceeds could fund modernization and offset transition costs. Monetize the vast real estate portfolio, estimated in the tens of billions, to retire liabilities. Other nations have liberalized postal markets with varying success by introducing competition while preserving basic service obligations. The US could do the same, subjecting more operations to market tests that reward efficiency rather than entrench failure.

Opponents warn of rural abandonment and job losses. Those risks are real and demand safeguards such as targeted subsidies or minimum service standards enforced by contract. Yet the status quo already abandons reliability for millions. Delays harm small businesses, seniors awaiting checks or medicine, and democratic processes reliant on timely election mail. Perpetual losses burden future generations. Inaction is the greater threat.

The American people have grown rightly furious. Decades of excuses, studies, and incremental tweaks have produced only deeper deficits and slower service. Investigative evidence from the GAO, OIG, and USPS own filings leaves no room for denial. The system is broken by design. Reform must be bold and immediate. If entrenched interests block change, Congress should pursue replacement through competition and privatization with protections for essential service.

The US invented modern postal service over two centuries ago. It can now reinvent it for the twenty first century. The public will accept nothing less than a reliable, accountable, and fiscally sound delivery network. The time for condemnation without action has ended. The time for transformation has arrived.
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In a stunning display of governmental efficiency, Congress has managed to hold at least 4–6 significant hearings on the USPS in recent years; because nothing says "we're fixing the mail" quite like another round of sternly worded questioning while your 1st class mail package sits in a warehouse for three weeks on the mail room floor: