President-elect Donald Trump has expressed interest in taking the US Postal Service private as the federal agency hemorrhages billions of dollars, according to a report.
He’s discussed the issue with Howard Lutnick, his pick for commerce secretary, at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Fla., The Washington Post reported, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.
After learning of the agency’s annual financial losses, Trump said the government should not be responsible for subsidizing the Postal Service, the sources said.
The Postal Service lost an astounding $9.5 billion during the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, up from a loss of $6.5 billion the previous year, it reported in November. The agency, which had a total operating revenue of nearly $80 billion, blamed its financial bleeding on non-cash contributions to worker compensations.
Privatizing the federal agency could send shockwaves across the shipping industry, affecting small business and rural communities, in addition to potentially gutting hundreds of thousands of federal jobs, the Washington Post reported.
It could also have drastic effects on the e-commerce industry, with companies like Amazon relying on the Postal Service for “last-mile” delivery between their fulfillment centers and customers’ homes or businesses.
Trump has long had a fraught relationship with the Postal Service. In his first administration during the early days of the pandemic, he called the agency “a joke” and said he wouldn’t provide any stimulus loans unless it quadrupled its package prices.
A Postal Service spokesperson told the Washington Post that under its modernization plan, it has cut 45 million work hours over the past three years and slashed transportation costs by $2 billion.
Trump’s transition team did not respond to requests for comment.
