The Post Office’s Biggest Problem Isn’t Saturday Delivery — It’s Congress It may seem like the United States Postal Service is unwilling to adapt to a world of declining mail volume and increased digital communication. But the real obstacle in the way of true reform aren’t the folks running the postal service itself. It’s their bosses in the U.S. Congress. Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe is like a man waiting for a package that never arrives. Donahoe, who has led the U.S.P.S. since 2010, has over the past few years made numerous proposals to get the money-losing postal service back in the black. He’s suggested closing post offices, modernizing post offices, “village” post offices, increased postal rates, decreased services, a reduced workforce, and a number of digital approaches involving tracking packages, QR codes, and mobile solutions. (MORE: How ‘Made in the U.S.A.’ is Making a Comeback) But there’s only so much the Post Office can do on its own to reduce the billions it loses every year. (Last year it lost $16 billion.) Congress holds all the cards, and that became increasingly clear this week. If the U.S.P.S. is ever going to break even, Congress will need to pass some comprehensive reform legislation. In February, Donahoe announced that the postal service would eliminate Saturday delivery, essentially challenging Congress to specifically require 6-day delivery. But last month, Congress passed a continuing resolution prohibiting 5-day delivery. Afterwards, a Government Accountability Office report stated that current law required the post office to deliver six days a week, and the U.S.P.S. board of governors decided Wednesday to “delay implementation of its new delivery schedule until legislation is passed that provides the Postal Service with the authority to implement a financially appropriate and responsible delivery schedule.” (MORE: Inside the World of Emotional Support Animals) This isn’t the first time Congress has stymied the Post Office’s plans to reform, either through action or inaction, and it likely won’t be the last. Below are three other ways Congress has halted postal reform. Congressional inaction: Pre-retiree health care. The costliest problem for the U.S.P.S. is the Congressional mandate that it pre-fund healthcare for future
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