The U.S. Postal Service has staved off a 2027 shutdown by deferring payments to employee retirement funds and other accounting maneuvers, but the liquidity crisis will come to a head by early next decade without reforms that give the agency freedom to operate like a private enterprise and shed onerous statutory obligations, Postmaster General David Steiner told a Senate panel on Wednesday.
The nation’s mail operator is nearly $31 billion in debt, but only has $8.9 billion of unrestricted cash available as it continues to grapple with declining mail volumes, rising costs and significant capital investment needs, he said in prepared remarks to the Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs.
In March he warned the postal organization could be forced to shut down within 12 months, absent legislative relief.
The Postal Service now projects it will run out of cash between 2031 and the second half of 2034, once retiree health benefits premium payments come due and the health benefits fund is depleted. About 70% of the net loss comes from noncontrollable expenses.
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