The postal service has become a key part of America’s election infrastructure

“THE POSTAL service”, said Donald Trump, as he signed covid-19 relief legislation in the spring, “is a joke.” He contended that the United States Postal Service (USPS) is losing money by “handing out packages for Amazon and other internet companies”, and needed to quadruple its package rates. Far from being a joke, the USPS is the nation’s favourite government agency, viewed favourably by 91% of Americans. But it is losing money: $4.5bn from January to March, more than double its losses for the same period last year. Neither the reasons nor the solution are quite so simple—and many see ulterior motives behind Mr Trump’s contempt.

The USPS’s financial woes have three main causes, one acute and two chronic. The acute one is covid-19. At least 2,400 postal workers have caught the virus and 60 have died. More than 17,000 of its 630,000 employees have been quarantined. Although package volume and revenue has grown along with online shopping, the volume of first-class and marketing mail have both declined.

Chronic problem number one is the decline in first-class mail, the postal service’s most profitable offering. In a digital age people send fewer letters and postcards. Chronic problem two is the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA), a law passed with bipartisan support in 2006 that requires USPS to prepay a...

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