Taxpayers Protection Alliance Slams Postal Service for $1.7 Billion Quarterly Loss

For Immediate Release           Contact: Courtney Mattison (202) 525-7492

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On August 9, 2023, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) released its Quarterly Statistics Report and its Revenue, Pieces & Weight report for the third quarter (Q3) of fiscal year (FY) 2023. Despite the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 (PSRA, P.L. 117-108), which shifted $59 billion in retiree healthcare liabilities and $5 billion in annual expenses, USPS is now reporting a $1.7 billion loss in Q3 of FY23. According to Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, the USPS is on track to lose an additional $60-70 billion by 2030.

The Taxpayers Protection Alliance’s (TPA) President, David Williams, offered the following comment:

“The USPS continues to make atrocious and fiscally irresponsible decisions, the costs of which are borne by taxpayers and consumers. As if a net loss of $1.7 billion in Q3 of FY23 was not enough, the losses are bound to continue as the agency retains maintenance of an overbuilt network marred by high labor costs and cross-subsidized lines of business. The USPS has doubled down on its most unprofitable endeavors, including (but not limited to), unnecessary post offices, reliance on expensive ‘career’ staffing, and purchasing electric trucks.

“As TPA highlighted in May 2023 with the Q2 report, the PSRA’s erasing of USPS debt with the stroke of a pen did not mark a new beginning for the struggling agency, as expenses continue to outpace revenue. The loss of billions of dollars per quarter is not novel for the USPS, this has been the case for several years. The existing business model simply is not fiscally feasible.

“To right the ship, the USPS must focus on increased hiring flexibility, and ensuring the revenue generated by an offered product matches the cost that goes into it. It is not the responsibility of taxpayers to subsidize fiscally reckless and poorly-managed postal policies.”

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Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis and dissemination of information on the government’s effects on the economy.