President-elect Donald Trump said in December that he is considering privatizing the United States Postal Service.
Government-delivered mail has existed in America longer than the country itself. Benjamin Franklin was made postmaster general the year prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
“There is talk about the postal service being taken private,” Trump said in a press conference on Dec. 16. “Not the worst idea I’ve ever heard, really isn’t.”
VERIFY readers asked if privatizing the post office is something Trump could actually do via executive order.
THE QUESTION
Can the president privatize the U.S. Postal Service?
THE SOURCES
- Postal Reorganization Act of 1970
- U.S. Postal Service
- Paul Steidler, senior fellow at the Lexington Institute
THE ANSWER
No, the president cannot privatize USPS.
WHAT WE FOUND
Because federal law establishes the postal service as a core function of the government, privatizing USPS would require Congress to pass a new law.
The U.S. Postal Service in its current form was established by the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970.
That law clearly states that the mail has to be delivered by the federal government, not private companies: “The United States Postal Service shall be operated as a basic and fundamental service provided to the people by the Government of the United States, authorized by the Constitution, created by Act of Congress, and supported by the people.”
The law also lays out the fundamental requirements of that service, such as delivering six days a week and delivering to every address in the country, no matter how remote and expensive it is to reach.
Because these functions are enshrined in federal law, the president cannot change them with executive orders.
“The postal service is part of the federal government under Title 39 of the U.S. Code, it’s part of the executive branch of the government,” said Paul Steidler, a senior fellow who studies postal systems at the Lexington Institute, a conservative think tank. “You need an act of Congress to change that going forward.”
An 11-seat board of governors oversees USPS’s operations. They too do not have the power to privatize the postal service.
“The government has to operate the postal service now, and the board of governors has no authority to sell or privatize the postal service,” said Steidler.
The president’s authority over USPS in general is limited, but the agency’s current financial situation could make it dependent on loans from the U.S. Treasury. The president could pressure the USPS to take desired actions by refusing to approve those loans, as long as his demands don’t violate the law. It’s a move Trump tried during his first term, and that some conservatives have said he should consider again.
“There are significant limitations, but the federal government should definitely look to use the levers that it has financially with the postal service and compel it to take some cost-saving and other steps,” Steidler argued.