6/22/2018

USPS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration is proposing to restructure the U.S. Postal Service with an eye to taking it private, a step it said would cut costs and give the financially burdened agency greater flexibility in adjusting to the digital age. The recommendation is part of a sweeping plan to reorganize and trim the size of the federal government. The broader plan, which would require congressional approval, drew mixed responses on Capitol Hill after it was released on Thursday [6-21-18]. The proposed postal reforms come as shifts in the way people communicate and shop are straining delivery networks created decades earlier to deliver mail across the country. President Donald Trump has launched a task force to review finances and operations at the agency, which has been losing money for years. Privatizing the Postal Service would provide greater freedom to raise prices and negotiate pay and benefits, according to the White House’s proposal. A private postal operator could cut costs by delivering mail fewer days a week and to more centralized locations, it said, and give the agency access to private capital to fund operational improvements.”

-Jennifer Smith, “Trump’s Fix for Postal Service: Privatize It,” The Wall Street Journal, June 22, 2018 5:30 am