Watchdog Slams Postal Service After $9.5 Billion Net Loss

For Immediate Release

Contact: Kara Zupkus, (224) 456-0257

Washington, D.C. – Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) criticized the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) after the agency reported a $9.5 billion loss for fiscal year (FY) 2024. This is a significant increase from last year, when the USPS reported a $6.5 billion net loss. In total, the USPS has lost more than $100 billion over the past fifteen years and expects to lose an additional $60-70 billion by 2030. These losses have accumulated even as the agency has repeatedly changed leadership, hiked stamp prices, and pursued consolidation measures.

TPA President David Williams slammed America’s mail carrier, noting: 

“The USPS’s reckless policies have completely failed taxpayers and consumers. It was bad enough when the agency hiked the price of First-Class Mail Forever stamps from 68 cents to 73 cents in July. Recently, the USPS proposed raising stamp prices five more times within the next three years, ostensibly to meet their ‘legal obligation to be financially self-sufficient.’ Agency leadership doesn’t seem to understand a basic point that should’ve been obvious years ago: stamp price hikes won’t turn around their finances. Stamp prices have skyrocketed 50 percent over the past ten years, all the while postal debt has exploded. It’s time for a different approach.

 “Out-of-control labor costs continue to derail any hope of postal reform. Compensation costs make up around 80 percent of total postal expenses, and a recent agreement with the National Association of Letter Carriers will add even more red ink. Retroactive pay bumps on top of already-growing compensation is a recipe for disaster for the beleaguered agency. Instead of relying on a costly career labor force, the USPS should take a page from the private sector and rely more on temporary and seasonal workers. This would allow for a more flexible operating model, saving the USPS billions of dollars per year.

 “USPS leadership needs to stop passing the buck and embrace reform. Taxpayers cannot afford continued bailouts of the agency. Consumers cannot afford five more stamp price increases over the next three years. Change won’t be an easy task, but it most certainly is necessary for America’s mail carrier.” 

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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.