Opinion: Congress must act to pull USPS back from the brink

Martha Diaz Aszkenazy

The United States Postal Service is on the brink of a self-induced collapse. The failed policies of the Delivering for America Plan have driven away customers through a combination of sky-high rate increases and degraded service. David Steiner, who will take over as postmaster general on July 14, has a tough job to do and little time to do it with some estimates indicating the USPS could be insolvent as soon as 2028.

Congress has a key role to play in helping him right the ship but must get off the sidelines and act. A useful step occurred earlier this week with a hearing before the House Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations. The National Newspaper Association provided a statement for the hearing that lays out key actions Congress can take to help restore the USPS. 

We emphasized that NNA members serve their communities, providing news on local events and civic matters that are not covered anywhere else, and that they depend on the USPS to get their papers to subscribers. The USPS – and by extension the small businesses in the communities they serve – faces an immediate and existential crisis. We urge Congress to act swiftly and compel meaningful reform at the USPS.

Here are three actions Congress can take right now to get the USPS back on track and keep commerce in America moving:

1. Demand the USPS Board halt the Delivering for America Plan including the large rate increase planned for July 13. This increase, far above the rate of inflation, will only deepen the hole and ties the hands of incoming Postmaster General Steiner, who should have the opportunity to assess the situation. The same holds true for the network consolidations and service cuts. Every customer that is lost through these increases and service reductions is one less Steiner can rely on in the future.
2. Modernize and empower the USPS regulator. Effective checks and balances are needed to keep the USPS on track. Congress needs to update and modernize the postal regulatory process to better safeguard against excessive rates and poor service by passing H.R. 3004, The USPS SERVES US Act.
3. Measure newspaper costs accurately. Congress should compel accurate measurement of newspaper service and hold the USPS accountable for maintaining and improving service quality by enacting H.R. 2098/S.1002, the Deliver for Democracy Act.

These are all commonsense steps Congress can take to address what has been clearly a failed approach by USPS management. Steiner has a huge job ahead of him and will need all the help he can get.

Congress must act now to make sure the nation’s next postmaster general is not the last one.

Martha Diaz Aszkenazy is chair of the National Newspaper Association and publisher of The San Fernando Valley Sun/El Sol Newspapers in California. She can be reached at martha@sanfernandosun.com.