Latest news with #PostalClause
Boston Globe
14-04-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
The US Postal Service isn't for sale
In delivering the mail to every home and business in America six days a week — all for the cost of a postage stamp — the US Postal Service carries out a central government function for the American people that should never be surrendered to private industry. Less than three months into the new administration, President Trump and his 'special government employee,' Elon Musk, have taken unprecedented and unlawful action to commercialize American government and remodel public service into a for-profit venture. With the position of Postmaster General vacant, they are now setting their sights Congress did not establish the agency as a profit-making operation but rather as a core public service whose origins date back to the Postal Clause of the US Constitution. Advertisement Under the bipartisan Today, the agency delivers the mail to more than Advertisement UPS, FedEx, Amazon, and other private shipping companies that Trump and Musk believe will efficiently supplant the Postal Service are different. They do not operate under any universal service requirement to serve areas where delivery is not profitable. In fact, these businesses regularly rely on the Postal Service and city and rural letter carriers to complete 'last mile' delivery to military bases, rural addresses, post office boxes, and other remote or hard-to-reach areas associated with higher operational costs and other limitations. The National Association of Rural Letter Carriers has already reported that privatization would disproportionately impact an estimated Moreover, outsourcing the Postal Service to the private sector would undermine consumer privacy. The profit-driven business models that typify private companies rely on the massive, backdoor collection of personal consumer data. Amazon alone is the subject of at least three recent class actions alleging that the company unlawfully collected the geolocation data of millions of consumers without customer knowledge or consent. A private sector workforce is also not a civil service. The postal clerks, mail handlers, letter carriers, supervisors, and other public servants that make up the US Postal Service proudly take a federal oath of office that reflects their unwavering commitment to serving the American people. And like other employees across the federal government who have been denigrated by Trump and Musk since the president took office, postal workers report for front-line duty amid national security emergencies, global pandemics, and now the daily prospect that their public service will be contracted out to private competitors. Given their commitment to public service, it is not surprising that more than Advertisement As a member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform for more than two decades, I have witnessed the public harm that stems from the outsourcing of core governmental functions to the private sector. The US Army's privatization of veterans' health care at Walter Reed Army Medical Center led to a dramatic decrease in on-site medical staff and deplorable conditions for our wounded warriors. A decision by the Defense Department to contract out ammunition acquisition to an unqualified private supplier led to the shipment of defective munitions and protective gear to US Special Forces in Iraq. FEMA's overreliance on a private vendor for its core hurricane relief responsibilities resulted in the delivery of only 50,000 meals for hurricane victims in Puerto Rico when 30 million were required by contract. Trump and Musk clearly prefer a transactional approach to government that exclusively prioritizes profit and ultimately results in hawking Teslas on the White House lawn. They simply do not understand that public service goes beyond dollars and cents. The Postal Service may not be a moneymaker, but the Constitution and Congress did not intend it to be. Its public service mission is why my mom, three aunts, two sisters, multiple cousins, and my brother-in-law signed up to work as postal clerks, city letter carriers, and postal union stewards. Advertisement Fortunately, members of Congress on both sides of the aisle strongly oppose privatization of an agency that the American people consistently rank as their most trusted government institution. Bipartisan opposition is what forced Trump to abruptly abandon a postal privatization proposal that members deemed ' With the federal government up for sale under the Trump administration, we will fight privatization and ensure that Trump and Musk follow the law and keep their hands off our public Postal Service.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Crazy amount of uncertainty': Johnstown community turns out to support postal service
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – About 150 postal workers and voters against the privatization of the U.S. Postal Service gathered Sunday for a demonstration in downtown Johnstown's Central Park. The event in Johnstown was one of hundreds that have been held nationwide by branches of the National Association of Letter Carriers since President Donald Trump announced he was a proponent of privatizing the postal service. NALC contends that privatizing of the USPS would raise costs and jeopardize 7.9 million jobs tied to the postal industry. FEDERAL FALLOUT | Getting 'collaborative' to address needs: Lessons learned during pandemic could frame local response to expected funding cuts If the region sees federal funding streams dry up, organizations – including the 1889 Foundation, which alone supports more than 50 nonprofit health and human service initiatives with millions of local dollars each year – would have to pivot from funding initiatives geared toward long-term public health to help meet more immediate needs. Jason McCoy, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 451 in Johnstown, said the rallies are being held nationwide for one simple reason – 'to tell the current administration, 'Hell, no,' to dismantling the postal service.' McCoy urged those in attendance to write to Johnstown's representatives in Congress to vote for House Resolution 70. That resolution, proposed in January, calls on Congress to take all appropriate measures to ensure that the U.S. Postal Service remains an independent establishment. NALC Jason McCoy, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers Branch 451 in Johnstown, speaks during a demonstration against the privatization of the U.S. Postal Service Sunday, March 23, 2025, in Johnstown's Central Park. Those who gave speeches Sunday stressed that Article I of the Constitution, known as the Postal Clause, grants Congress – not the president – the power to regulate a postal system. Speakers at Central Park included Johnstown Councilman Taylor Clark and state Rep. Frank Burns, D-East Taylor Township, as well as Philip Glover, the national vice president of American Federation of Government Employees. Glover spoke of privatization of the post office in context of Trump's other drastic proposed federal cuts to Veterans Affairs, national parks, Social Security offices, Medicaid and Transportation Security Administration officers. 'It's an internal assault on the public sector – on your services,' he said, 'and this postal service takeover,. You want Amazon taking over the postal service? You think you'll get a letter to rural communities?' Glover National Vice President of American Federation of Government Employees Philip Glover speaks during a demonstration against the privatization of the U.S. Postal Service Sunday, March 23, 2025, in Johnstown's Central Park. The USPS is a $78 billion-a-year agency that lost $9.5 billion during fiscal year 2024. 'They keep saying, 'Well it doesn't make money,' ' Glover said. 'Well, it's a service to the American public. Are we going to let it go to the lowest bidder?' The crowd shouted: 'No.' FEDERAL FALLOUT | 'Trips are life-sustaining': CamTran Medicaid-funded program on schedule despite potential cuts In a region where more than a quarter of residents receive Medicaid to pay for health care services and where doctors' offices and pharmacies are far-flung across rural areas, public transportation is a key part of public health. Laraine Reedy, of Johnstown, attended the demonstration as a concerned voter. 'Privatization is the antithesis to everything the U.S. Constitution was created to protect,' she said. Reedy was surprised to see such a strong turnout for the demonstration. 'What that tells me is the issue is resonating down to people who normally wouldn't protest,' she said. Demonstration About 150 people attended a demonstration against the privatization of the U.S. Postal Service Sunday, March 23, 2025, in Johnstown's Central Park. A mail carrier who did not want to be identified because of postal union rules about making public comments said carriers work hard, starting with six 11-hour days a week to build a career. 'I've invested in a career,' he said. 'There's a crazy sense of uncertainty now, when in the past, this was a job you could rely on.'
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Post Office Act of 1792 signed
WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — On this day in history, President George Washington signed an act into law that created the U.S. Postal Service's (USPS) predecessor. On Feb. 20, 1792, Washington signed The Post Office Act of 1792, creating the Postal Service as a permanent federal institution. At that time, it was called the United States Post Office Department. On its website, USPS said that this act also helped promote a free press — it allowed newspapers to travel through national mail at low postage rates, sometimes even for free. 'As Thomas Jefferson later wrote, 'No experiment can be more interesting than that we are now trying … that man may be governed by reason and truth. Our first object should therefore be, to leave open to him all the avenues to truth. The most effectual hitherto found, is the freedom of the press,'' USPS said. On This Day | World Health Organization names COVID-19 The act additionally protected privacy for personal mail and expanded physical infrastructure nationwide. The Postal Service started with the Second Continental Congress in 1775, which named Benjamin Franklin as Postmaster General. The Postal Service is also part of the U.S. Constitution. In 1787, the Postal Clause allowed Congress to establish post offices and roads for correspondence. 'USPS retains the largest physical and logistical infrastructure of any non-military government institution, providing an indispensable foundation supporting an ever changing and evolving nationwide communication network,' the institution said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
