CAGW: USPS FY 2018 First Quarter Losses Show Continued Distress | Citizens Against Government Waste

CAGW: USPS FY 2018 First Quarter Losses Show Continued Distress

Press Release

For Immediate Release
Contact: Curtis Kalin 202-467-5318

February 9, 2018
 

(Washington, D.C.) – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) expressed continued frustration with the failure of the United States Postal Service’(USPS) to fix its financial problems following the release of its first quarter financial report for fiscal year (FY) 2018.  The agency reported a loss of $540 million.

USPS CEO Megan J. Brennan admitted during a public call about the report that USPS has a “flawed business model,” echoing CAGW’s analysis.

CAGW President Tom Schatz said in a statement: 

“Now that USPS has admitted publicly that its business model is flawed, it must come to grips with the reality of its fiscal situation.  The Postmaster General and USPS’s unions are pressuring the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) to allow postal management to raise prices at will for first-class mail customers which would avoid the need to implement long-overdue reforms.  The PRC should resist this pressure to hike prices.  Instead, Congress must institute rigorous market-oriented reforms so USPS can end its financial hemorrhaging.”

Background:

  • USPS is in the midst of its 12th consecutive year of financial losses, totaling $64.7 billion.
  • A March 2015 report by Sonecon CEO Robert Shapiro found that USPS has an $18 billion advantage over similar private sector companies.  Even with these enormous financial benefits, massive losses persist.
  • The agency has reached its statutory debt limit of $15 billion and has more than $120 billion in unfunded liabilities.
  • USPS has defaulted on $6.9 billion in payments for future retiree health and pension benefits, which is the sixth straight year it has had to do so.
  • On July 11, 2017 USPS bowed to union pressure and agreed to an acrossthe-board pay raise and added benefits. 
  • The Government Accountability Office has consistently placed USPS on its High Risk List.

CAGW is the nation’s largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.