By Madison Evans
The United States Postal Service (USPS) might not seem like it, but as of 2020 it is only 49 years old,
being established on July 1st, 1971 and taking over its predecessor, the United States Post Office
Department (USPOD) that was established in 1872. It is thanks to the Postal Reorganization Act that as
an independent agency of the executive branch it is responsible for providing services to states
(including associated states) and the country’s insular areas. Within the executive branch the USPS is
an independent agency, meaning, in a simple since, the agency is constitutionally managed and
independent of presidential control.
Under the postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, and the Trump Administration, overtime for employees
have been cut, late delivery trips and other expenses that ensure mail is delivered on time, like
mandating that mail be kept until the next if the distribution centers are late, causing a nation-wide slow
down of mail. These changes are coming just months before the presidential election where many
intend to mail-in vote. It doesn’t help that congress hasn’t come up with a new Covid relief bill either.
Democrats want to add in the relief bill a section in witch congress would give money to the USPS.
The money would help cover their operating losses that have occurred since the pandemic started as
well as prepare for the influx of mail-in ballots during the election. Both sides of the aisle have argued
that the changes brought by DeJoy so close to the election will hinder the voting process and on a daily
basis harm citizens relying on medicine to be delivered during a pandemic and rural citizens getting
their mail.
There are 496,934 career employees and 136,174 non-career employees with over 97,000 being
veterans working in the Postal Service as of 2018.![]()
i![]()
And those employees of the USPS help deliver post
six days a week (minus federal holidays) no matter the weather. The postal service is a huge part of the
country’s infrastructure, employing thousands, working with millions, and keeping the country
connected.
Why should you care about the slow down and any loss of funding for the Postal Service? The USPS…
1.Ships medications
2.Indigenous and rural communities receive their mail primarily through USPS
3.Small business rely on it for their own shipments
4.Voting by mail
5.Incarcerated people’s main form of communication with their loved ones
6.Delivers letters to Santa
If you want to support your USPS then here is a few things you could do:
●Buy stamps and USPS merch
●Send letters
●Don’t get upset if your mail is delayed
●Don’t get upset at the mail couriers
●Sign petitions
●Contact your state reps and senators
If the year 2020 has done anything, it has kept all of us on our toes for the next disaster, be it politically,
racially, medically, or culturally. Everyday something is changing and it is the people of this world that
decided whether it is a change for good or bad. The “postal crisis” effects the entire country and it will
only get better if people are up to date to what is going on as the year progresses. Though everything is
a simple Google search away, here are some of the resources that I used to understand the situation.
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https://www.usps.com/
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https://about.usps.com/
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https://facts.usps.com/
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https://apnews.com/eecd34df92249d8218bda442f76d47f6
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https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/13/trump-refuses-post-office-funding-as-part-of-fight-again
st-mail-in-voting.html
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https://nypost.com/2020/08/17/what-is-the-usps-crisis/
i United Sates Postal Service. “Size and Scope.” Postal Facts – U.S. Postal Service, 31 May 2018,
facts.usps.com/size-and-scope/.
