US Postal Service expects to run out of cash in a year without help from Congress, postmaster says

"If it doesn't, the Postal Service might not be able to pay its employees or vendors by February 2027, with potentially dire consequences for mail delivery. How long are employees going to work and vendors going to show up if we're not paying them? Steiner said in an interview on Wednesday."

"The Postal Service is an independent agency that is funded mostly through postage revenue and the services it provides. Steiner said it has all the burdens of a government agency, such as having to deliver mail six days a week to every address, but none of the benefits, such as an annual appropriation from the federal budget."

"He said raising the borrowing limit is the easiest thing lawmakers can do immediately to help the agency. That will buy us the time to make the fixes we need to make, and we can sail on down the road, he said."

Postmaster General David Steiner warns that the U.S. Postal Service faces a critical financial crisis, potentially running out of cash within a year without congressional action. The agency could be unable to pay employees and vendors by February 2027 if the $15 billion borrowing cap, in place since 1990, remains unchanged. Steiner, a former waste management CEO, argues the Postal Service operates under government constraints like six-day-a-week delivery requirements without receiving federal budget appropriations. He identifies raising the borrowing limit as the most immediate solution to stabilize finances and allow time for structural reforms. Steiner also proposes expanding revenue through extended last-mile delivery services to additional entities, addressing the fundamental question of who funds universal mail delivery.

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