USPS will run out of cash in early 2027 without help: Postmaster general

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) will run out of money within a year, Postmaster General David Steiner told The Associated Press this week. 

“We have to have a conversation with the American public,” Steiner said in an interview with the AP published Thursday. “If you want us to deliver everywhere, every day, we’ll do it. That’s not a problem. But who is going to pay for it?”

Funding the Postal Service relies on whether Congress votes to lift a $15 billion cap on the agency’s borrowing allowance, which has been in place since 1990, Steiner told the AP. Congress’s decision will impact the Postal Service’s ability to pay its workers and vendors who could be out of a paycheck come February 2027 and thus impact mail delivery nationwide. 

“How long are employees going to work and vendors going to show up if we’re not paying them?” Steiner said during the interview. Steiner stepped into the role of postmaster general amid financial struggles at the agency last July. The Postal Service reported a $3.3 billion net loss during the quarter just before Steiner stepped into the role, a doubling from the same period the previous year. In November, it reported a net loss of $9 billion, a slight decrease from the $9.5 billion of net losses it reported the previous year. USPS’s total operating revenue increased to........

© The Hill