The elected president of the United States, Donald Trump, expressed strong interest in privatizing the United States Postal Service in recent weeks, the Washington Post reported Saturday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.
The United States Postal Service (USPS), which lost more than US$100 billion since 2007, reported a net loss of $9.5 billion for its fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, up $3 billion from last year, largely due to a year-over-year increase in non-monetary workers’ compensation spending.
When informed of the agency’s annual losses, Trump said the government should not subsidize the organization, according to the Washington Post.
Trump, who will be sworn into office on Jan. 20, discussed his desire to privatize the Postal Service with Howard Lutnick, his pick for commerce secretary, at Mar-a-Lago, according to the report.
The people who will work in the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, will also held preliminary talks on major changes at USPSaccording to the report, which cites two other people familiar with the matter.
A USPS spokesperson said that over the past three years, the company reduced its operations by 45 million work hours, and cut transportation spending by US$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 billion and $3.7 billion annually, the spokesperson added.
“No policy should be considered official unless it comes directly from President Trump or his authorized spokespersons,” said Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Trump’s transition team.
How a privatization of the postal service would affect the US
Any attempt to privatize the Postal Service could disrupt the e-commerce industry in the United Statesthe Washington Post said, including Amazon, which uses the USPS for “last mile” delivery between Amazon fulfillment centers and customers. It could also hurt small businesses and rural consumers who use the Postal Service, since it is the only carrier that delivers to remote corners of the country.
Recently, Amazon said it would donate $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund and would stream his inauguration on its Prime Video service. Trump has had a strained relationship with the Postal Service. Sources told Reuters that his transition team is considering canceling service contracts to electrify its delivery fleet.
According to sources, the team is reviewing how it can unwind the service’s multimillion-dollar contracts, including with Oshkosh and Ford, for tens of thousands of battery-powered delivery trucks and charging stations.
In 2020, Congress authorized the Treasury Department to provide the Postal Service up to $10 billion as part of a $2.3 trillion coronavirus stimulus package, which Trump threatened to block.
Source: Ambito
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