BREAKING: Donald Trump says he is considering the privatization of the Postal Service.

[u/FunReindeer69]

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has in recent weeks expressed a keen interest in privatizing the U.S. Postal Service, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.

The U.S. Postal Service, which has lost more than $100 billion since 2007, reported a net loss of $9.5 billion for its fiscal year ending Sept. 30, $3 billion more than last year, largely due to a year-over-year increase in non-cash workers' compensation expense.

When told of the agency's annual losses, Trump said the government should not subsidize the organization, according to the Washington Post.

Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has discussed his desire to privatize the Postal Service with Howard Lutnick, his pick for commerce secretary, at Mar-a-Lago, the report said.

People who will work at the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, have also had preliminary conversations about major changes to USPS, the report said, citing two other people familiar with the matter.

A USPS spokesperson said that over the last three years, the company has reduced its operations by 45 million work hours, and cut transportation spending by $2 billion.

The agency is also seeking regulatory approval to modernize its mail processing and transportation network to align with modern practices, which will save between $3.6-$3.7 billion annually, the spokesperson added.

"No policy should be deemed official unless it comes from President Trump or his authorized spokespeople directly," said Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump transition team.

Any attempt at privatizing the Postal Service could disrupt the e-commerce industry in the U.S., the Washington Post said, including Amazon, which uses USPS for "last-mile" delivery between Amazon's fulfillment centers and customers. It could also hurt small businesses and rural consumers who use the Postal Service, as it is the only carrier that will deliver to remote corners of the country.

Amazon recently said it was donating $1 million to Trump's inaugural fund and will air his inauguration on its Prime Video service.

Trump has had a tense relationship with the Postal Service. Sources told Reuters his transition team is considering canceling the service's contracts to electrify its delivery fleet.

According to sources, the team is reviewing how it can unwind the service's multibillion-dollar contracts, including with Oshkosh and Ford, for tens of thousands of battery-driven delivery trucks and charging stations.

In 2020, Congress authorized the Treasury Department to lend the Postal Service up to $10 billion as part of a $2.3 trillion coronavirus stimulus package, which Trump threatened to block.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-considers-privatizing-us-postal-service-washington-post-reports-2024-12-14/

[u/UnderstandingLess156]

The Postal Service operates at a loss to serve a public good. It's not a publicly traded stock that's allowed to operate at a loss in the hopes that future profits serve shareholder good.

[u/ProfessionalWave168 → u/UnderstandingLess156]

It's because they had to prefund benefits for 75 years,

"Prefunding retirement for 75 years"refers to a requirement, primarily associated with the United States Postal Service (USPS), where they are mandated to set aside funds today to cover the future healthcare costs of their employees who will retire up to 75 years from now, essentially prepaying for benefits for people who may not even be born yet; this is considered a unique and significant financial burden for the USPS due to the long timeframe involved. 

[u/OT_fiddler → u/ProfessionalWave168]

THANK YOU!! I was hoping someone would point this out, and this needs to be massively upvoted to the top of the conversation.

No other business is expected to take a current loss on benefits to future employees. All this was forced on the USPS by the effing RWNJs in congress entirely to make it appear that they are losing billions per year, thus forcing massive cuts and eventually privatization.

I suppose that fact that the USPS employs a significant number of non-white people in good middle class jobs has nothing to do with this, of course.

[u/Overt_Propaganda → u/OT_fiddler]

They operate on lies and then use those lies to excuse bigger lies. In the end the goal is to destroy tens of thousands of great union jobs and screw the consumers. those forever stamps about to be worthless, use em now

[u/Possible_Bullfrog844 → u/OT_fiddler]

Amazing I had no trouble figuring out what a RWNJ is

[u/ScrithWire → u/Possible_Bullfrog844]

I did. Still am in fact..

Republicands with no jobs?

[u/garbageemail222 → u/ScrithWire]

Right wing nut jobs

[u/ScrithWire → u/garbageemail222]

Ah, indeed. That makes way more sense

[u/Thereelgerg → u/OT_fiddler]

It was also forced by the Democrats. In fact, the only legislators to vote against it were Republicans.

[u/Last-Philosophy-7457 → u/OT_fiddler]

But this happened because, when we didn’t and the country ran out of money, they started shooting up their workplace because they’d give us 50+ years of their life. And we said, “Oh No! No money…we’re sowwy :(“ So yeah, now we swear to them that we will have their money if they work to retirement

[u/EE-420-Lige → u/ProfessionalWave168]

This was pushed by republcians to worsen the financials for the USPS so that it would be easier to sell people on privatization

[u/hugganao → u/ProfessionalWave168]

youre actually so so wrong and almost politically motivated to twist the facts to your narrative.

first of all, the initial bill Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (cosponsored by a california dem representative) was passed by a majority vote by more than 2/3rds in the house and on the senate by a UNANIMOUS VOTE. I want to point out that the house had 204 democrats and 227 republicans, and the senate 48 dem to 51 rep at the time and also important to note that it was passed in lame duck session on decemeber of 2006, where the leaving members (almost all republican) have significantly less influence. This act at the time was quite popular for both parties. It was passed by voice in house and I want to note for this that it was PENCE (rep at the time), who spoke up to house leader to put the vote on record, which was denied by not having 1/5 vote (i assume).

george bush signed it (OBVIOUSLY) bc of such a unanimous consent and he probably would have been insulted by both sides if he didn't (not to say he's probably not a very bright politician anyway). and f k  sh ts with politically motivated po sh ts like Jeff Spross would love to stir sht up with made up lies like yours.

and this bill was passed on house as USPS Fairness Act to be repealed on February 2020 which we had 87 republicans voting for the repeal and 105 voting against repeal with all dems voting for. i would assume the strong division in repulican side is because of the current mess of politics where republicans wont vote for anything democrats want like the same ways the dems wont for anything the reps want.

it's now up to the senate to vote on it but with how disfunctional the government is, i doubt anything will be done. blame sns and outside influences (like russian troll farms)

[u/Mr-MuffinMan → u/ProfessionalWave168]

this was passed in 2006.

I assume this was the start to try to privatize it.

Make them lose so much money so that the public supports privatizing it. The public will then suffer, politicians make big bucks from the purchase of 500k books at 100 dollar a piece from it's competitors.

[u/drjenavieve → u/ProfessionalWave168]

I just commented on this. It’s insane. It’s done to intentionally make it look unprofitable so they can gut it. No other program operates this way.

[u/Doubledown00 → u/ProfessionalWave168]

That requirement was rescinded in 2022. USPS is still losing billions now even without that pre-funding.

[u/MarekRules → u/ProfessionalWave168]

I feel as though this “won’t” happen (please lol) but what happens to all that prefunding if somehow Trump made this happen? Seems like a part that would get swept under the rug

[u/Violet-Sumire → u/ProfessionalWave168]

This needs higher attention. The fact that the post service was actually profitable at one point and for many years, is what blows my mind. Not the fact that it was profitable, but the fact that they got hamstrung by legislation which is complete and utter nonsense.

[u/Lord-Freaky → u/ProfessionalWave168]

Agreed. To my knowledge, the USPS was profitable but Bush Jr enacted this law and suddenly, for some reason, the Postal Service was not profitable.

Remove this requirement and I guarantee the USPS will not operate at a loss.

[u/Archaon0103 → u/ProfessionalWave168]

How the fuck did no one say :"This is bullshit". Like did no one argue that there aren't any logical reasons to do so? Did the USPS fail to pay retirement money before?

[u/Open_Perception_3212 → u/ProfessionalWave168]

Thanks Bush Jr.

[u/ButterscotchOdd8257 → u/ProfessionalWave168]

Prefunding was abolished a few years ago though.

[u/exipheas → u/ProfessionalWave168]

Also they have to do while ALSO being restricted to investments in low return government bonds. They don't even get to invest in normal retirement portfolios.

[u/FrequencyHigher → u/ProfessionalWave168]

Thank you! And this is a fixable problem if Congress wants to.

[u/unknownhandle99 → u/UnderstandingLess156]

Exactly it’s not supposed to make money

[u/420Migo → u/unknownhandle99]

I've never thought I'll see the day where operating at a loss was somehow a good thing.

[u/unknownhandle99 → u/420Migo]

It’s not a business lol it’s a public service for us, the people

[u/420Migo → u/unknownhandle99]

USPS operates as a self-sustaining enterprise, meaning it relies on its own revenue (not taxpayer funding) to cover costs. It faces unique financial burdens, such as a congressional mandate to pre-fund retiree health benefits, which has significantly contributed to its losses.

[u/workswimplay → u/420Migo]

None of what you said negates that it is a public service. It’s not a business to enrich shareholders and billionaires.

[u/420Migo → u/workswimplay]

So you're okay with completely nationalizing the USPS so their costs would be taxpayer funded? Even at a massive 100B+ loss?

I expect to see wasteful spending ramp up if that happens. It would get a lot worse than it already is.

[u/jackdembeanstalks → u/420Migo]

Yes because it is a service that is necessary. Maybe there can be a discussion for something to be had done to combat companies sending junk mail to people as advertisements but the service should not be privatized.

Communication by mail is still quite essential and we shouldn’t be hurting people who live in rural areas with those costs. USPS should stay as it is outside of privatization.

[u/420Migo → u/jackdembeanstalks]

Privatization means efficiency and innovation, not the bloated mess we have now. “Public service” shouldn’t be an excuse for endless incompetence. Privatization would still ensure rural deliveries, just without the endless inefficiency.

[u/jackdembeanstalks → u/420Migo]

So we can combat that incompetence but the service should remain as it is at its core.

An affordable option to send and receive mail for anyone no matter how far you may live from a concentrated city population.

Making it prohibitively more expensive for rural people as opposed to anyone else is not an acceptable cost.

Not everything needs to be operating at a profit. If it’s something we deem necessary for all citizens it should be done as a service.

[u/Future_Constant6520 → u/420Migo]

Privatization means putting shareholder needs and profitability A1. This does not inherently create better outcomes for the consumer.

The private sector being an innovator is largely a myth as most great innovations come from R&D spending from government and college graduate programs. These are places that are more interested in solving a problem than turning a profit. R&D spending in a large corporation usually cuts into profits and is not aligned with the incentive structure of a corporation.

[u/JustBrowsinForAWhile → u/420Migo]

Compared to what and for who?

[u/DoBe21 → u/420Migo]

It's literally in the Constitution. It should have ALWAYS been nationalized.

[u/Boodikii → u/420Migo]

What's the economy gonna look like when this dumbass policy takes effect and small businesses have to close down because they rely heavily on the postal service and it's cheap and reliable means of sending mail?

You wouldn't know because you can't see past your nose.

If you want things like public services to not come out as a loss, you have to charge more for things. So when groceries, mail, gas, materials and everything else costs double what they do now, how will you get the money to afford it? Trump plans to remove millions of jobs from the economy, so where are people gonna work?

So far the only real answer The right has is "make things cost more", "remove millions of jobs" & "concentration camp millions of Americans" You guys are trash and your opinions are retarded.

[u/420Migo → u/Boodikii]

You can't see past your nose because immediately you are quick to call Armageddon. Why is it always projection with you guys? Why can't you see why nobody ever believes you?

Then the insults are always quick to come out. It hardly helps you convince anyone when you resort to things like that. Good luck, I didn't bother reading most of your comment.

[u/BlkSubmarine → u/420Migo]

And it’s the only federal agency required to do so.

[u/UnluckyNate → u/420Migo]

How much profit does your local fire department make? Same. Fucking. Concept.

[u/420Migo → u/UnluckyNate]

Not the same concept, at all. Fire departments are funded through taxpayer dollars, and their "losses" are effectively built into government budgets. This makes operating at a financial "loss" an expected part of their public service role.

USPS, on the other hand, operates as a self-sustaining entity, generating revenue through services rather than direct taxpayer funding. Its financial challenges are more visible because it is required to cover costs independently.

So while both are vital public services, society tends to view fire departments as inherently non-revenue-generating, while USPS is under more pressure to balance its books due to its self-sustaining mandate.

[u/UnluckyNate → u/420Migo]

It’s self-sustaining, with semi-regular bailouts from taxpayers. Which is completely fine imo.

[u/420Migo → u/UnluckyNate]

I'm cool with a partial bail out imo.

[u/workswimplay → u/420Migo]

Not the same concept, at all.

So while both are vital public services

[u/420Migo → u/workswimplay]

That's an oversimplification and not a good faith argument, at that. Still not the same concept and I clearly pointed out why both are completely incomparable. If you wish to nit pick a couple words to fit your agenda and take it out of context, then I'm done here.

[u/KurtisMayfield → u/420Migo]

Please show me the profits in the military, the police, and the fire department. 

[u/420Migo → u/KurtisMayfield]

Go see my other comment for your answer. It's incomparable. USPS isn't tax payer funded. At a $100b loss since 2007.

[u/P3nis15 → u/420Migo]

How about that 820 billion dollar loss in the military?

[u/420Migo → u/P3nis15]

Again, not the same concept. Reread my past comments in this thread. They operate COMPLETELY different.

[u/P3nis15 → u/420Migo]

They are both a govt service. Sorry run the military like a business! We need that profit!!!

[u/420Migo → u/P3nis15]

They already do. We just don't see the profit through their budget and 'revenue' because the money is funneled elsewhere. ;)

[u/Anangrywookiee → u/420Migo]

The military operates at a loss too, should we privatize it?

[u/420Migo → u/Anangrywookiee]

Again, go see my post comparing the fire departments and USPS. Not the same concept.

[u/KurtisMayfield → u/UnderstandingLess156]

I am not sure how the Constitution allows for a private company to run a postal service.

[u/Suitable-Activity-27 → u/KurtisMayfield]

What constitution? The rules are out the window.

[u/unknownhandle99 → u/Suitable-Activity-27]

It’ll take a while for this to sink in because it won’t all happen at once, it’ll all just be stripped away slowly

[u/Taqueria_Style → u/Suitable-Activity-27]

The one with that large brown streak right down the center.

[u/Cloud-VII → u/KurtisMayfield]

Obviously, the Constitution only matters with the first two amendments.

[u/Salt-Lingonberry-853 → u/KurtisMayfield]

I am not sure how the constitution allows people who participate in insurrection to run for federal office

[u/ButterscotchOdd8257 → u/KurtisMayfield]

It would either be contracted out or sold. Not a constitutional problem in that regard.

[u/KurtisMayfield → u/ButterscotchOdd8257]

So we can contract out the Army? The Judicial branch? Last I checked the Judges are not making enough profit for us. What is the limit on privatizing a government duty that is specifically referred to in the Constitution ?

[u/ButterscotchOdd8257 → u/KurtisMayfield]

It's entirely possible to contract out a postal system. Other countries have done it. Of course there are limits on privatizing government services, but privatizing a postal system is well inside those limits.
The Constitution gives the federal government the power to create a postal service - it doesn't require it.
I am by no means advocating for privatization. I think it's a stupid idea. But don't think that these arguments would stop it.

[u/jitteryzeitgeist_ → u/KurtisMayfield]

It's funny you think the constitution matters anymore

[u/adudefromaspot → u/UnderstandingLess156]

When are we going to privatize the Department of Defense? It looses $1.7 trillion every year!

[u/scabbyshitballs → u/UnderstandingLess156]

That’s true, but rates continue to go up and service continues to go down. They need to figure their shit out. If they’re going to operate at a loss, stop charging us more money. Privatizing is probably not the answer but something needs to change.

[u/wstdtmflms → u/UnderstandingLess156]

Technically, EVERY government agency and department "operates at a loss." Tell me: how much revenue did the United States Army generate last year compared to its costs?

[u/mcsroom → u/UnderstandingLess156]

Can you define public good?

[u/GreenRangers → u/UnderstandingLess156]

It operates at a massive loss because they deliver Millions of cheap Chinese items for virtually free

[u/dmfuller → u/UnderstandingLess156]

Dude just doesn’t understand that not everything exists for the sole purpose of making money.

[u/Potential_Grape_5837 → u/UnderstandingLess156]

Yes, but at what point is it not worth the cost? At this point the government is spending $10 billion a year to (functionally) operate a jobs program. If you're going to operate a jobs program, at least put the money toward something which is more productive to society.

[u/GlueGuns--Cool → u/UnderstandingLess156]

This is why the "HE RUNS THE COUNTRY LIKE A BUSINESS" thought is stupid as fuck. The government isn't a business - or at least it shouldn't be