The Postal Service will run out of cash within a year, Postmaster General warns: 'We have to have a conversation with the American public' | Fortune

"How long are employees going to work and vendors going to show up if we're not paying them? The Postal Service might not be able to pay its employees or vendors by February 2027, with potentially dire consequences for mail delivery, according to Postmaster General David Steiner's warning to The Associated Press."

"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."

"We have to have a conversation with the American public. If you want us to deliver everywhere, every day, we'll do it. That's not a problem. But who is going to pay for it? Steiner emphasized the need for public dialogue about funding sustainable universal mail delivery services."

"That will buy us the time to make the fixes we need to make, and we can sail on down the road. Raising the borrowing limit is the easiest thing lawmakers can do immediately to help the agency, according to Steiner, who advocates for expanding revenue sources including last-mile delivery services."

Postmaster General David Steiner warns that the U.S. Postal Service faces a critical financial crisis, potentially running out of cash by February 2027 if Congress does not lift the decades-old $15 billion borrowing cap. The agency operates as an independent entity funded primarily through postage revenue and services, yet carries government obligations like six-day-a-week mail delivery to all addresses without receiving federal budget appropriations. Steiner, a former waste management CEO and FedEx board member, emphasizes that raising the borrowing limit provides immediate relief while the agency implements necessary reforms. He advocates for expanding revenue sources, including extending last-mile delivery services to additional entities, and calls for public dialogue about funding sustainable universal mail delivery.

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