a message from your publisher… Reg Buxton

What’s Going on with the USPS?

“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” Except, those rounds aren’t quite so swift anymore. The United States Postal Service is struggling – slower mail delivery, rising debts, a 9.5 billion net loss in the 2025 fiscal year alone. This ongoing financial crisis speaks to a vital government service in distress, and it’s not entirely the Postal Service’s fault. In fact, in 2025, more than 70% of the Service’s losses were from factors entirely outside of its control.

In 2022 the Postal Service Reform Act ended the unusual and burdensome requirement that the organization was required to pre-fund retiree health benefits. It also integrated Medicare into the Postal Service’s healthcare program. However, this isn’t enough. Further legislative and regulatory reforms are needed to keep this vital government agency first dreamed up by our Founding Fathers alive and well.

Currently, the USPS’s only line of credit is with the Federal Financing Bank and it isn’t allowed access to traditional lines of credit or capital markets. Some argue that it’s important that the Postal Service remains free from creditors outside the U.S. government. However, the money must come from somewhere and if Congress is unprepared to allocate more funding, then other solutions must be explored and allowed.

As the Postal Service reaches its 250th birthday along with our country, it’s clearer than ever that reform has become necessary. The USPS provides a vital service that links the entire country together, no matter how near or far, city or rural for just the cost of a postage stamp. And as we move on to the next 250 years, we need to do what is necessary to allow the USPS to thrive alongside us.